1945-S Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-001

Description

Clockwise spread on QUARTER DOLLAR and the lower wreath details distinguishes this 1945-S Washington silver quarter doubled die reverse, attributed by the Wexler Team as 1945-S 25¢ WDDR-001. The clockwise rotational spread indicates that the hub and die were slightly misaligned in rotation during a secondary hubbing impression, causing legend elements to shift in a curving arc rather than a straight-line displacement. A short southwest-to-northeast die scratch running from the upper nose to the left eye on the obverse serves as the primary obverse die marker, anchoring the attribution to this specific die pair. The reverse of this coin is doubly significant because it also carries a repunched mintmark variety listed in the Wexler RPM Files as 1945-S 25¢ WRPM-001, showing an S over S displaced to the northeast. A die gouge running WNW/ESE through the lower D in DOLLAR provides an additional reverse fingerprint. The dual-variety status -- DDR plus RPM on the same coin -- substantially increases both numismatic interest and market value, as collectors can attribute two independent Wexler listings from a single specimen. The 1945-S quarter had a mintage of 17.0 million pieces, struck at the San Francisco Mint during the final year of World War II. Washington quarters from the wartime era (1942-1945) were composed of 90% silver, and this particular issue represents the last wartime S-mint quarter before peacetime production resumed. WDDR-001 designation indicates this was the first doubled die reverse attributed for the date, positioning it as the primary DDR reference for 1945-S quarter collectors.

Attribution History

• s:; Wexler Variety ID: 1945-S 25¢ WDDR-001
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References