1944 Doubled Die Obverse DDO-004

Description

Documented by VarietyVista under UVC-1611 and DMR-005, this 1944 Lincoln Wheat Cent displays a strong spread with light hubbing to the southeast appearing as an extra eyelid — a secondary impression of Lincoln's eyelid displaced southeast of the primary, creating the visual effect of a doubled or extra eyelid on the portrait. The "strong spread with light hubbing" description indicates that while the hub pressure during the secondary impression was relatively light, the displacement distance was sufficient to produce clearly visible separation between the primary and secondary images. Die state documentation extends to four stages: Stage A shows light die scratches running north-south on the obverse in early die state with the reverse at EDS, Stage B at mid-die-state remains unconfirmed, Stage C at late die state is unconfirmed, and Stage D shows both obverse and reverse at very late die state (VLDS). The jump from confirmed EDS directly to confirmed VLDS, with MDS and LDS both unconfirmed, suggests most surviving specimens come from either early or very late production, with intermediate-state examples remaining undocumented. The Lincoln Wheat Cent was struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 1944 in 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc at 3.11 grams with a 19.05 mm diameter — the first wartime year to resume copper composition after the 1943 steel cent experiment. Victor David Brenner's obverse portrait pairs with the wheat ears reverse. The extra eyelid feature is diagnostically valuable because Lincoln's eye area provides fine engraving detail that makes even light hub displacement clearly visible, and the southeast direction of the spread creates a predictable location for the secondary impression relative to the primary facial features.

Die Markers

• UVC-1611
• DMR-005
• Stage A:
• Light die scratches North-South on Obverse – EDS
• Reverse is EDS
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage D:
• Obverse and Reverse are VLDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by Larry Patterson
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References