1936 Doubled Die Obverse DDO-003

Description

Third documented doubled die obverse for the 1936 Washington Silver Quarter, DDO-003 displays a light spread on the date numerals and the ribbon detail of Washington's hair queue — areas where even modest misalignment between hub impressions produces visible doubling. The VarietyVista classification assigns UVC-0044 and die marriage reference DMR-005, tracking both the unique variety and the specific die pairing that produced it. Three die stages have been identified: Stage A in early die state (unconfirmed), Stage B in middle die state (also unconfirmed), and Stage C where both the obverse and reverse show late die state characteristics. The progression from early to late die state reflects the natural wearing of the dies during extended press runs, and coins from each stage can show different levels of sharpness in both the doubling and the overall design. The 1936 Washington Quarter was produced during the Great Depression, when the Philadelphia Mint struck approximately 41 million quarters — a healthy mintage that reflected the quarter's importance in everyday transactions for gas, groceries, and trolley fares. John Flanagan's Washington portrait, now in only its fifth year of production after replacing the Standing Liberty design in 1932, was still being refined in terms of die preparation techniques. Cataloged by VarietyVista, DDO-003 demonstrates that doubled die varieties were being created from the earliest years of the Washington Quarter series, establishing a collecting specialty that spans nearly a century of continuous production.

Die Markers

• UVC-0044
• DMR-005
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• Obverse and Reverse are LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by Lee Hiemke
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References