1940 Doubled Die Reverse DDR-011

Description

VarietyVista catalogs DDR-011 on the 1940 Philadelphia Lincoln wheat cent with UVC-1450 and DMR-015, documenting extreme extra thickness on E PLURIBUS UNUM, both wheat ears, and the upper portion of ONE. The "extreme" characterization places this among the strongest doubled die reverses for the 1940 date — a degree of doubling that should be visible under moderate magnification without extensive searching. Three die stages track the production arc: Stage A in early die state (unconfirmed), Stage B in mid-die state (unconfirmed), and Stage C in late die state where a die crack develops over the V.D.B. designer's initials. The V.D.B. crack in late die state provides a useful chronological marker — specimens showing this crack represent the final production from this die before retirement. Victor David Brenner's wheat ear reverse design, with its delicate parallel grain lines and curving stems, is particularly responsive to hub doubling: even moderate displacement produces visible thickening on the fine lines of the wheat ears that would be less noticeable on bolder design elements. The 1940 Philadelphia cent had a mintage of over 586 million pieces — the highest to that date — as the economy recovered from the Depression and industrial production accelerated in the lead-up to World War II. Despite that massive output, each DDR variety traces to a single die pair within the hundreds of die pairs needed for such volume.

Die Markers

• UVC-1450
• DMR-015
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• Reverse is LDS
• Die crack over V. D. B. – LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by James Wiles
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References