1945-S Doubled Die Obverse DDO-003

Description

This 1945-S Washington quarter DDO-003 exhibits light spread on IN GOD WE TRUST, LIBERTY, the digit 1 of the date, and the designer's initials JF (for John Flanagan). Struck at the San Francisco Mint in 90% silver and 10% copper, weighing 6.25 grams with a 24.3 mm diameter, this coin was produced during the final year of World War II. VarietyVista assigned Universal Variety Code UVC-0571 and Die Marker Reference DMR-005, documenting an unusually detailed four-stage die state progression: Stage A at early die state (unconfirmed); Stage B at mid die state (unconfirmed); Stage C at late die state showing a die crack across the forehead and upper hair, a light die crack across the bust, and a light die crack down the eagle's right wing on the reverse; Stage D at very late die state where the obverse is at VLDS and the die crack extends to the Q of QUARTER. The reverse die is also listed as MMS-004 (Ball serif), indicating it carries a mintmark style variant with a ball-shaped serif on the S mintmark. This combination of a doubled die obverse with a mintmark style variety on the same coin makes it particularly noteworthy. The 1945-S quarter belongs to the Washington Silver Quarters 1932-1964 series, and the San Francisco Mint produced 17.0 million quarters that year, primarily from silver supplies stockpiled during the war years. The four documented die states provide collectors with the opportunity to assemble a die state progression for this variety.

Die Markers

• UVC-0571
• DMR-005
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• Die crack across forehead and upper hair – LDS
• Light die crack across bust
• Light die crack down eagle's Right wing – LDS
• Stage D:
• Obverse is VLDS
• Die crack extends to Q of QUARTER – VLDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by Delma K. Romines
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References