1936 Doubled Die Obverse DDO-003

Description

Cross-referenced as the significant FS-103 (Fivaz-Stanton #103), this 1936 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Wheat Cent doubled die obverse shows strong spread on LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST and is tracked by VarietyVista under die markers UVC-1338 and DMR-005. A distinctive feature of this die is that the first hubbing used a hub with the broken left leg of the R in LIBERTY — a hub defect rather than a die anomaly — meaning the broken R is present on every coin struck from this die and serves as an additional attribution point beyond the doubling itself. The die progressed through three confirmed stages: Stage A with both obverse and reverse in early die state (EDS), Stage B in mid-die state (MDS), and Stage C in late die state (LDS). The FS-103 cross-reference (listed as FS-103 (16) in the Cherrypickers' Guide numbering) places this among the most widely recognized and actively sought Lincoln Cent varieties in the hobby. Struck during the Depression Era when mintages were recovering from their early-1930s lows, the 1936 Philadelphia issue saw production of over 309 million cents, providing a large population from which cherrypickers can search. The combination of FS-listing prominence and the broken-R hub defect makes DDO-003 one of the most attribution-rich varieties in the entire Wheat Cent series.

Die Markers

• UVC-1338
• DMR-005
• Stage A:
• Obverse and Reverse are EDS
• Stage B:
• Obverse and Reverse are MDS
• Stage C:
• Obverse and Reverse are LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by Natalie Halpern
• FS-103
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References