1943 WHO WHO-003

Description

Attributed by VarietyVista, the 1943 WHO-003 is a Doubled Working Hub Obverse variety on the Walking Liberty Half Dollar — a type of variety that occurs at an earlier stage of die manufacture than standard doubled dies. While a doubled die results from misalignment during the hubbing of an individual working die, a doubled working hub occurs when the master die imparts a doubled impression onto the working hub itself, meaning every working die subsequently created from that hub carries the same doubling. This WHO-003 exhibits strong spread on IN GOD WE TRUST, the lower gown of Liberty, three center rays of the sun, a curl in the flag, and the inner portion of the 9 in the date — covering both text and figural design elements of Adolph A. Weinman's iconic obverse. Multiple working dies were created using this doubled working hub, meaning this variety can appear on coins from different die pairs. Die markers vary by mint facility and die combination: Philadelphia examples use unknown die markers; Denver examples carry UVC-111 and DMR-003; San Francisco examples with a large mintmark carry MMS-005 with UVC-112 and DMR-004; and San Francisco examples with a trumpet tail mintmark carry MMS-004. The Walking Liberty Half Dollar was struck in 90% silver, weighing 12.5 grams at 30.6 mm diameter during World War II, when the Mint maintained silver alloy production for half dollars despite altering nickel compositions. The spread on IN GOD WE TRUST and the lower gown serves as the primary diagnostic, with the specific die markers then determining which working die from the doubled hub produced any given specimen.

Die Markers

• Philadelphia
• Unknown
• Denver
• Unknown
• UVC-111
• DMR-003
• San Francisco
• MMS-005 (Large mintmark)
• UVC-112
• DMR-004
• San Francisco
• MMS-004 (Trumpet Tail mintmark)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Unknown
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References