1943 Doubled Die Obverse DDO-043

Description

Medium extra thickness on LIBERTY — noted in the comments as Stage C of DDO-002 — reveals this 1943 Philadelphia Mint Washington Silver Quarter variety to be a late die state reappearance of an earlier-cataloged doubled die, assigned its own DDO-043 number to document the dramatically different die condition. VarietyVista records die markers UVC-0514 and DMR-051, with Stages A and B unconfirmed, while Stage C displays extensive die cracking: a crack across the upper hair, a crack across the bust, a crack extending east from the eagle's head, a crack down the eagle's right wing, and a crack from the lower wing tip to the rim through QUA of QUARTER. This constellation of five distinct die cracks confirms a die in advanced terminal deterioration, far beyond the condition of the same die when it produced the specimens cataloged as DDO-002. The 1943 Washington Quarter was produced during World War II in the standard 90% silver composition. Forty-three documented doubled die obverses for the 1943-P quarter is a remarkably high count, reflecting intensive research into this wartime date. The relationship between DDO-043 and DDO-002 illustrates an important principle in die variety attribution: as dies progress through their service life, the same doubling characteristics can present very differently due to accumulated wear, cracking, and deterioration, warranting separate catalog entries for dramatically different die states.

Die Markers

• UVC-0514
• DMR-051
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• Die crack across upper hair – LDS
• Die crack across bust
• Die crack East from eagle's head – LDS
• Die crack down eagle's Right wing
• Die crack from lower wing tip to rim through QUA of QUARTER

Attribution History

• Discovered by Timothy Wissert
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References