1940 Doubled Die Obverse DDO-010

Description

Tracked by VarietyVista under codes UVC-0124 and DMR-012, this tenth doubled die obverse for the 1940 Philadelphia Mint Washington Silver Quarter shows light spread on LIBERTY — the inscription arcing above Washington's portrait on John Flanagan's quarter design that has served the denomination since 1932. Ten cataloged DDO varieties for a single pre-war date demonstrates the thoroughness with which early Washington Quarter dies have been examined by variety specialists, revealing hub doubling events that occurred during an era when die production methods were evolving but still involved multiple hub impressions that could introduce misalignment. Three die stages are documented: Stage A at early die state (unconfirmed), Stage B where both obverse and reverse reach mid-die state, and Stage C at late die state (unconfirmed). The 1940-P quarter was struck during a year when the nation's economy was transitioning from Depression-era contraction to wartime mobilization, and coin demand was increasing accordingly. Philadelphia's quarter production that year contributed to a total output that kept pace with growing commercial needs. Light spread on LIBERTY indicates a relatively minor hub misalignment — enough to create detectable doubling under magnification but not dramatic enough to be visible to the unaided eye. The UVC and DMR coding system employed by VarietyVista allows researchers to cross-reference this die against the broader universe of 1940-P quarter varieties, establishing relationships between different die states and pairing patterns. DDO-010 rounds out the first decade of documented obverse doubled dies for this date, contributing to the comprehensive variety census of the Washington Silver Quarter series.

Die Markers

• UVC-0124
• DMR-012
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• Obverse and Reverse are MDS
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Lee Hiemke
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References