1944 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-016

Description

Sixteenth doubled die obverse for the 1944 Philadelphia Wheat Cent extends the DDO documentation for a date that sits atop the Wheat Cent mintage charts at over 1.43 billion pieces. WDDO-016 occupies the middle tier of the catalog where varieties show clear but not dramatic doubling — typically requiring 5x to 10x magnification for confident visual confirmation. Wexler Variety ID: 1944 1¢ WDDO-016 stands as the only published attribution, with no die markers or alternative catalog entries recorded. The 1944 Philadelphia cent's shell-case brass alloy was mandated by War Production Board Order L-31, which restricted copper usage in non-essential applications including coinage, leading the Mint to acquire spent military cartridge casings from ordnance facilities and refine them into planchet stock. This recycled material occasionally introduced trace impurities that created minor surface variations from coin to coin, adding an extra dimension of examination complexity when assessing whether observed design irregularities represent genuine hub doubling or planchet surface artifacts.

Attribution History

• Wexler Variety ID: 1944 1¢ WDDO-016
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References