1938-D Doubled Die Reverse DDR-001

Description

Primary in the reverse doubled die census for the 1938-D Lincoln wheat cent, DDR-001 exhibits extreme extra thickness on E PLURIBUS UNUM, wheat ears, and stems — a comprehensive spread across the major design elements of Victor David Brenner's reverse. The "extreme" designation sits at the top of the doubling magnitude scale, indicating hub displacement significant enough to produce readily visible thickening or separation on multiple design elements without requiring high magnification. VarietyVista assigned identifiers UVC-0062 and DMR-004, documenting three die stages: Stage A at early die state (unconfirmed), Stage B at mid die state (unconfirmed), and Stage C where the reverse has reached late die state. The critical additional notation reveals that the obverse die is listed as RPM-002, indicating a repunched mintmark where the D mintmark shows evidence of a secondary impression — making this a dual-attribution die marriage combining extreme reverse doubling with a repunched mintmark on the obverse. Denver struck approximately 20.01 million cents in 1938, a relatively modest Depression-era mintage that places this date among the lower-production wheat cent issues of the period. The convergence of DDR-001 and RPM-002 on the same die pair significantly enhances the variety's desirability, as collectors can attribute two independent manufacturing anomalies on a single coin. Extreme extra thickness on the wheat ears and stems is particularly diagnostic because the fine organic detail of the grain stalks amplifies hub displacement, creating noticeably doubled contours that follow the natural curves of the wheat design. E PLURIBUS UNUM, positioned above the wheat ears, shows the same extreme thickening across its letter strokes. Collectors should examine both the reverse for the dramatic doubling and the obverse D mintmark for the secondary impression to fully document this dual-variety die marriage.

Die Markers

• UVC-0062
• DMR-004
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• Reverse is LDS
• Obverse is LISTED as RPM-002 – LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by Delma K. Romines
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References