1928-S Doubled Die Obverse DDO-001

Description

Carrying the primary obverse doubled die designation for the 1928-S Mercury dime, DDO-001 presents light spread on the date and designer's initials (AW for Adolph A. Weinman) at the base of Liberty's neck truncation. Cross-referenced as 1-O-II-C within the VarietyVista classification framework, this alphanumeric code identifies the first obverse die (1-O), Class II doubling mechanism (II), and a specific sub-classification (C). Die markers UVC-039 and DMR-003 anchor the attribution within the VarietyVista registry. San Francisco struck approximately 7.40 million Mercury dimes in 1928, placing this among the lower-mintage dates in the series and making it a moderately scarce issue even without variety attribution. Weinman's Winged Liberty Head design — depicting Liberty wearing a winged Phrygian cap symbolizing freedom of thought — places the designer's initials and date in close proximity near the base of the portrait, where light hub displacement affects both elements simultaneously. The additional comment notes the reverse is MMS-003 (Large Mintmark), indicating the S mintmark on this die is larger than the standard size — a mintmark size variant that provides an independent secondary diagnostic for confirming the die pair. A further notation records that the cataloger needs to examine a specimen for new digital photographs, indicating that high-quality reference imagery for this variety was incomplete at the time of documentation and that the attribution relies on earlier examination records. As DDO-001, this variety represents the most notable or earliest identified obverse doubled die for the 1928-S Mercury dime. Collectors should examine the date numerals and AW initials under 15-20x magnification, looking for light secondary impressions displaced from the primary, and verify the large S mintmark on the reverse as confirmation of the correct die marriage.

Die Markers

• UVC-039, DMR-003

Attribution History

• 1-O-II-C

External References