1936 Doubled Die Reverse DDR-008

Description

Strong spread visible on E PLURIBUS UNUM and the right wheat ear characterizes this 1936 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Wheat Cent doubled die reverse, cataloged by VarietyVista as DDR-008 with die markers UVC-1354 and DMR-021. Three die stages are documented: Stage A where the reverse is in Early Die State while the obverse is in Mid Die State (an unusual asymmetry suggesting the reverse die was newer or less worn), Stage B in Mid Die State (unconfirmed), and Stage C in Late Die State (unconfirmed). The asymmetric die state between obverse and reverse in Stage A provides an interesting diagnostic — it indicates the dies were not paired from the beginning of their service lives, with the obverse having seen more use before being matched with this particular reverse die. Eight documented doubled die reverses for the 1936 date reflects thorough variety research on Depression-era Lincoln Cents. The 1936 Philadelphia Mint produced 309,632,000 cents, a substantial output that consumed many die pairs over the production year. Doubled die reverses on Wheat Cents are created during the hubbing process when the hub impression is applied with slight misalignment, transferring a doubled image of the wheat ears, legends, and denomination into the working die. The strong spread on UNUM and the wheat ear makes this variety detectable at relatively low magnification compared to varieties showing only light or close spread.

Die Markers

• UVC-1354
• DMR-021
• Stage A:
• Reverse is EDS
• Obverse is MDS
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by James Wiles
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References