1946 Doubled Die Obverse DDO-001

Description

Strong spread from a weak hubbing on BERTY of LIBERTY and 19 of the date identifies the primary doubled die obverse for the 1946 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Wheat Cent, the first postwar year after the Victory over Japan in August 1945. Attributed by VarietyVista with die markers UVC-1710 and DMR-002, this variety progresses through three die stages: Stage A is Early Die State (unconfirmed), Stage B shows both obverse and reverse at Mid Die State, and Stage C reaches Late Die State (unconfirmed). The "weak hubbing" notation is significant — it indicates that one of the hub impressions during die preparation was applied with insufficient pressure, creating a shallower secondary image rather than the fully formed doubling seen in equal-strength hub impressions. This weak hubbing mechanism can produce a distinctive appearance where the doubled elements appear as thickened or notched features rather than clearly separated secondary images. The 1946 Philadelphia Mint cent was the last year of the recycled brass shell-casing composition adopted in 1944, before the return to standard bronze in 1947. Philadelphia struck approximately 991 million cents in 1946, one of the highest Wheat Cent mintages, providing the volume of die pairs needed for variety detection. As DDO-001, this is the primary doubled die obverse for the date and typically the strongest example known.

Die Markers

• UVC-1710
• DMR-002
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• Obverse and Reverse are MDS
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by James Wiles
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References