1937 Doubled Die Obverse DDO-011

Description

Medium spread on GOD WE TRUST with light spread on the last three digits of the date — 937 — defines this 1937 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Wheat Cent doubled die obverse, the eleventh cataloged DDO for this Depression-era date. VarietyVista assigns die markers UVC-1380 and DMR-014, with Stages A (EDS) and B (MDS) unconfirmed, while Stage C shows both obverse and reverse in Late Die State. The differential strength of the doubling — medium on the motto but light on the date — indicates a hub displacement direction that produced greater visible separation in the vertically oriented motto letters than in the horizontally arranged date numerals. Victor David Brenner's obverse portrait of Abraham Lincoln features the IN GOD WE TRUST motto arcing above the head and the date positioned at the lower right, and the geometric relationship between these elements determines how a given hub shift manifests differently across the die face. The 1937 cent was struck during an era when the Great Depression's economic effects were still felt despite partial recovery, and Philadelphia produced approximately 309.2 million cents that year. Eleven doubled die obverses documented for 1937 demonstrates the continuing depth of variety research into Depression-era Wheat Cents, where the combination of moderate mintages and well-preserved surviving specimens creates fertile ground for die variety discovery.

Die Markers

• UVC-1380
• DMR-014
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• Obverse and Reverse are LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by Frank Baumann
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References