1935 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-002

Description

Hub misalignment during the die preparation process left its mark on this 1935 Mercury dime, attributed by the Wexler Team as 1935 10¢ WDDO-002. No additional cross-references in the CONECA or Fivaz-Stanton catalogs have been established. Adolph A. Weinman's Winged Liberty Head design -- popularly known as the "Mercury" dime for its visual resemblance to the Roman god -- features an obverse rich in fine detail: the wings on Liberty's Phrygian cap, the hair strands, the fasces, and the legend lettering all provide surfaces where even subtle hub doubling can manifest visibly under magnification. The 1935 Philadelphia dime had a mintage of 58.8 million pieces, a recovery-era production figure as the economy continued its uneven emergence from the Great Depression. WDDO-002 designation places this as the second doubled die obverse cataloged for the date, indicating that at least two distinct obverse dies with hub doubling entered service during the 1935 production run. Mercury dimes from the mid-1930s occupy a sweet spot for variety collectors: mintages were large enough to ensure reasonable availability of surviving specimens, yet the Depression-era economy meant fewer coins were carefully preserved, making higher-grade examples with clear variety diagnostics proportionally scarcer. The specific elements affected by the doubling and the spread direction should be confirmed through direct examination, as the Wexler listing would detail these diagnostics. Collectors pursuing a comprehensive Mercury dime DDO set will find that the series' 1916-1945 span encompasses several dozen attributed doubled die obverse varieties, with WDDO-002 contributing to the 1935 date's error census.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Larry Briggs Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1935 10¢ WDDO-002
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References