1944-S Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-016

Description

Sixteenth in the sequence of San Francisco 1944 DDO wheat cent varieties, WDDO-016 adds another documented hub doubling event to what has become one of the most extensively cataloged date-mintmark combinations in the Lincoln cent series. Assigned Wexler Variety ID: 1944-S 1¢ WDDO-016 by the Wexler Team, this variety joins an already substantial group of obverse doubled dies that collectively illustrate the scope of die preparation irregularities during the peak of wartime cent production. The San Francisco Mint's 1944 shell-case cent output of 282,760,000 pieces required a large inventory of working dies, each independently hubbed and therefore carrying its own unique combination of alignment precision or misalignment. WDDO-016 exhibits hub doubling on obverse design elements — lettering, date, and portrait features — where the secondary hub impression landed with detectable displacement. Among sixteen documented DDO varieties for a single date-mintmark, the challenge for attributing WDDO-016 correctly lies in its differentiation from the fifteen other entries, each displaying a distinct spread direction, magnitude, and combination of affected design features. Shell-case copper planchets from 1944 can develop a characteristic dark chocolate-brown patina over decades that may obscure subtle doubling features, making bright or lightly toned specimens more suitable for variety confirmation work.

Attribution History

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

External References