1937 Doubled Die Reverse DDR-005

Description

Fifth reverse doubled die cataloged for the 1937 Lincoln wheat cent, DDR-005 shows extra thickness on E PLURIBUS UNUM, the wheat ears, and the upper portion of ONE — design elements created by Victor David Brenner that have graced the wheat cent reverse since the denomination's 1909 debut. VarietyVista documented this variety under UVC-1386 and DMR-020, tracking three die stages: Stage A where both reverse and obverse surfaces display early die state characteristics, Stage B at mid die state (unconfirmed), and Stage C where a light horizontal die scratch appears in the lower portion of the E of CENT at late die state and the obverse has also progressed to LDS. The Stage C die scratch in the E of CENT serves as a late-die-state diagnostic that helps collectors determine where their specimen falls in the die's production life. This variety is designated as a proof strike, placing it within the limited proof production of 1937 — Philadelphia struck only 9,320 proof cents that year as part of annual proof sets sold directly to collectors. The extremely small proof mintage compared to the business strike production of approximately 309 million cents makes any proof variety inherently scarce. Proof Lincoln cents from the 1930s were struck on specially polished planchets using dies that received careful preparation, and the brilliant mirror-like fields of proof surfaces can either enhance or obscure doubled die diagnostics depending on lighting conditions. Collectors examining this DDR-005 proof should angle fiber-optic light across the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM and the wheat ear stalks at 10-15x magnification, where the extra thickness classification indicates thickened letterforms and ear detail rather than fully separated secondary images.

Die Markers

• UVC-1386
• DMR-020
• Stage A:
• Reverse and Obverse are EDS
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• Light horizontal die scratch in lower E of CENT – LDS
• Obverse is LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by James Wiles
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References