1925 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-004

Description

Registered as WDDO-004 for the 1925 Lincoln wheat cent, this doubled die obverse reveals an extra eyelid below Lincoln's main eyelid — one of the most diagnostically compelling doubling types found on Victor David Brenner's cent portrait. The Wexler Team recorded specific die markers for both sides: on the obverse, several die scratches run in a WSW/ENE direction through the ERTY letters of LIBERTY, while on the reverse, a die scratch runs from the top of the O in OF to the bottom of the U in UNITED. These die-specific scratches provide independent identification pathways that collectors can verify before evaluating the more subtle eyelid doubling itself. Philadelphia struck approximately 139.9 million cents in 1925, a substantial production run for the mid-1920s wheat cent series. The doubled eyelid diagnostic on Lincoln cents is particularly engaging because the human eye naturally focuses on facial features when examining portrait coins, making the extra eyelid line more intuitively recognizable than many inscription-based doubling types. The secondary eyelid appears below and slightly displaced from the primary eyelid contour, created when the working hub impressed the eyelid detail at a slightly different position during a secondary hubbing operation. Cross-referenced as Wexler Variety ID: 1925 1¢ WDDO-004, with no additional attribution system listings currently known. The WSW/ENE die scratches through ERTY serve as the primary obverse die fingerprint — their diagonal orientation across four consecutive letters creates a distinctive pattern that cannot be replicated by random contact marks or circulation damage. Collectors should locate these scratches first to confirm the correct die, then examine Lincoln's eye area under 10-15x magnification to identify the secondary eyelid line. The reverse die scratch from the O of OF to the U of UNITED provides an additional confirmation point for specimens where obverse diagnostics may be obscured by wear.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Dr. Daniel Griffin Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1925 1¢ WDDO-004
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References