1945 Doubled Die Obverse DDO-011

Description

Eleventh in the obverse doubled die census for the 1945 Jefferson nickel, DDO-011 exhibits light spread on LIBERTY, the five-pointed star, and the date on Felix Schlag's wartime nickel design. VarietyVista assigned identifiers UVC-247 and DMR-057, documenting a particularly informative three-stage die progression: Stage A at early die state (unconfirmed), Stage B at mid die state where a die clash has developed through Jefferson's chin and, notably, the reverse of this die is listed as RPM-056, and Stage C at late die state (unconfirmed). The 1945 Jefferson nickel belongs to the wartime silver alloy series (1942-1945), struck in a distinctive 56% copper, 35% silver, 9% manganese composition adopted to conserve nickel for military applications. These wartime nickels carry a large mintmark above Monticello's dome on the reverse — the only time in Jefferson nickel production that the mintmark appeared on the obverse area of the reverse field. The RPM-056 cross-listing for the reverse die creates a dual-attribution die marriage where the obverse carries a DDO and the paired reverse carries a repunched mintmark, significantly elevating collector interest. The die clash notation at Stage B — clash marks through Jefferson's chin — documents progressive die deterioration where obverse and reverse dies contacted each other without a planchet, transferring ghost design elements. Philadelphia struck approximately 119.4 million wartime nickels in 1945, the final year of the silver composition before returning to the standard copper-nickel alloy. Collectors should examine LIBERTY and the date under 10-15x magnification while also checking the reverse for the RPM-056 repunched mintmark, making this a two-variety die pair.

Die Markers

• UVC-247
• DMR-057
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• Die clash through chin – MDS
• Reverse is LISTED as RPM-056 – MDS
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Jerome Goodman
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References