1944-S Doubled Die Reverse DDR-004

Description

Wartime nickel production at San Francisco yielded this fourth cataloged reverse doubled die for the 1944-S Jefferson nickel, with DDR-004 exhibiting light spread on the word UNUM in the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM. Felix Schlag's Monticello reverse, selected through a 1938 design competition, places the Latin motto across the upper reverse field where the curved baseline of the letters provides good surfaces for detecting hub doubling. VarietyVista assigned die identifiers UVC-781 and DMR-009, tracking three die stages: Stage A at early die state (unconfirmed), Stage B where both reverse and obverse surfaces are at mid die state, and Stage C at late die state (unconfirmed). The MDS confirmation for Stage B indicates that verified specimens exist showing moderate die wear consistent with extended production use. Jefferson nickels struck from 1942 to 1945 used the wartime composition of 56% copper, 35% silver, and 9% manganese — a substitute alloy adopted because nickel was designated a critical war material. This different alloy composition affected die wear patterns and striking characteristics compared to the standard 75% copper / 25% nickel alloy used before and after the war years. San Francisco produced approximately 21.64 million wartime nickels in 1944, all bearing the large P, D, or S mintmark above the dome of Monticello that distinguished wartime issues from regular production. Light spread on UNUM indicates a modest hub displacement that produces thickened letterforms rather than dramatically separated secondary images. Collectors should focus on the U-N-U-M letter sequence under 15-20x magnification, looking for slight widening of the vertical strokes and serifs that betrays the secondary hub impression beneath the primary design.

Die Markers

• UVC-781
• DMR-009
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• Reverse and Obverse are MDS
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Ward Miller
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References