1945 Doubled Die Obverse DDO-004

Description

Documented by VarietyVista with die markers UVC-0520 and DMR-005, this 1945 Washington Silver Quarter DDO-004 shows light spread on IN GOD WE TRUST, the date, and LIBE of LIBERTY — a partial-word doubling pattern where the hub displacement produced visible effects on the leftmost portion of LIBERTY while the rightward letters Y and remaining characters show diminishing or absent doubling, indicating a displacement vector that was more pronounced in one region of the die face. Three documented die stages track this working die through its production life: Stage A is early die state (EDS, unconfirmed); Stage B shows both obverse and reverse at mid-die-state (MDS); and Stage C is marked by a die crack running across the forehead and hair of Washington's portrait, ending below the R of LIBERTY — a late die state (LDS) crack that serves as an additional attribution point and indicates the die was approaching the end of its service life. The reverse in Stage C is also documented at LDS. The die crack trajectory across the forehead follows a common stress failure path on Washington Quarter obverse dies, where the high-relief portrait features create stress concentrations during repeated high-pressure striking. The Washington Silver Quarter was designed by John Flanagan based on Jean-Antoine Houdon's bust of George Washington, struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 1945 in 90% silver composition weighing 6.25 grams with a 24.26 mm diameter. The 1945 Philadelphia mintage reflected wartime production levels during the final year of World War II. The Stage C die crack provides an especially useful identification feature, as its path from forehead through the hair and termination below the R creates a distinctive crack trajectory that differs from crack patterns on other 1945 obverse dies.

Die Markers

• UVC-0520
• DMR-005
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• Obverse and Reverse are MDS
• Stage C:
• Die crack across forehead & hair ending below R of LIBERTY – LDS
• Reverse is LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by John A. Wexler
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References