1940-S Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-003

Description

Cataloged by the Wexler Team as 1940-S 10¢ WDDR-003, this Mercury Dime presents a distinctive combination variety where the obverse of this die pair is separately documented as a doubled die listed in the Wexler Files as 1940-S 10¢ WDDO-006, making this a DDO/DDR combination — both dies in the pair independently exhibit hub doubling from their respective manufacturing processes. The obverse doubling shows a close spread toward the center on the date, the designer's initials, and slightly on IN GOD WE TRUST, while the reverse's doubling pattern defines the WDDR-003 designation. A small die gouge to the left of the upper T in LIBERTY serves as an obverse die marker, and the reverse exhibits parallel die scratches running northwest to southeast between the E in ONE and the mintmark, plus numerous north-south die scratches throughout the reverse surface. The Mercury Dime (officially the Winged Liberty Head Dime) was designed by Adolph A. Weinman, featuring Liberty wearing a winged Phrygian cap on the obverse and a fasces with olive branch on the reverse. Struck at the San Francisco Mint in 1940, this coin was produced in 90% silver composition (90% silver, 10% copper) weighing 2.50 grams with a diameter of 17.91 mm. The DDO/DDR combination substantially enhances this variety's significance because it demonstrates two independent hub doubling events — one during the manufacture of the obverse die and another during the reverse die's production — converging on a single die pair, which creates a coin exhibiting doubled die features on both faces. Collectors especially prize such combination varieties for their documentation of multiple die-manufacturing anomalies within a single coin.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Kevin Flynn Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1940-S 10¢ WDDR-003
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References