1918 Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-001

Description

First in the Wexler Team's doubled die reverse catalog for the 1918 Lincoln Wheat Cent, WDDR-001 exhibits moderate extra thickness on E PLURIBUS UNUM, both wheat ears and stems, and the outermost letters in UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The strongest doubling concentration on the lower half of the reverse suggests the hub doubling mechanism involved a spread that was more pronounced in the southern portion of the die — a pattern consistent with certain pivot-point or rotational doubling classes. Victor David Brenner's wheat ears reverse, introduced just nine years earlier in 1909, features the paired wheat stalks flanking the denomination text, and the organic curves of these design elements make doubled impressions particularly visible as slight thickening or shadowing of grain lines and stem contours. The 1918 Philadelphia Mint cent was produced during the final year of World War I, when the U.S. Mint was balancing civilian coinage needs with wartime demands on copper and other strategic metals. Die markers for attribution include a small die gouge in the form of a dot below the O in ONE on the reverse, while no significant markers have been noted on the obverse. As WDDR-001, this variety holds the primary position in the doubled die reverse catalog for its date — a designation that typically reflects either priority of discovery or prominence of the doubling. No cross-references to other attribution systems are currently known. The 1918 Lincoln Cent, with a mintage exceeding 288 million business strikes, provided ample material for die variety research across its numerous die pairs.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Dr. Daniel Griffin Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1918 1¢ WDDR-001
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References