1936 Doubled Die Obverse DDO-007

Description

Adolph Weinman's Winged Liberty Head — popularly known as the "Mercury" dime despite depicting Liberty wearing a winged Phrygian cap rather than the Roman messenger god — displays medium spread on the date, designer's initials AW, and IN GOD WE TRUST for DDO-007 on the 1936 Philadelphia issue. Cross-referenced as 7-O-II-C in the VarietyVista classification framework, where 7 indicates the seventh documented obverse variety, O denotes obverse, II designates Class II pivoted doubling, and C marks the specific subclass. Die markers UVC-287 and DMR-010 anchor the variety in the comprehensive Mercury dime census. Philadelphia struck approximately 87.5 million dimes in 1936, a substantial recovery from the Depression-era lows of the early 1930s. Medium spread on three distinct obverse zones — the date at the base, the tiny AW initials near the truncation, and the IN GOD WE TRUST motto — indicates a hub misalignment affecting a broad area of the die face. The designer's initials AW, positioned near Liberty's neck truncation, are among the smallest design elements on the obverse, making them particularly sensitive to doubling — even modest hub displacement produces proportionally dramatic visible effects on these miniature letters. The date numerals 1936 provide the largest and most accessible diagnostic target, where medium-class separation should be readily apparent under moderate magnification.

Die Markers

• UVC-287, DMR-010

Attribution History

• 7-O-II-C

External References