1947-S Doubled Die Obverse DDO-003

Description

Third in the obverse doubled die census for the 1947-S Lincoln wheat cent, DDO-003 exhibits medium extra thickness on LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST — the two primary obverse inscriptions that frame Victor David Brenner's Lincoln portrait. VarietyVista assigned identifiers UVC-1762 and DMR-013, documenting three die stages: Stage A at early die state (unconfirmed), Stage B where both obverse and reverse surfaces have progressed to mid die state, and Stage C at late die state (unconfirmed). The MDS confirmation for Stage B establishes that specimens with moderate die wear have been verified. A significant additional attribution note identifies the mintmark as MMS-004 with a "trumpet tail" characteristic — meaning the S mintmark on this die displays a distinctive flared terminal stroke that curves outward like a trumpet bell, providing a secondary diagnostic independent of the doubling itself. San Francisco struck approximately 99.0 million cents in 1947, a substantial post-war output that employed numerous die pairs. The medium extra thickness designation indicates the doubling manifests as broadened letter strokes rather than clearly separated doubled images, a presentation that requires familiarity with the normal weight of LIBERTY and IGWT letterforms to detect confidently. The trumpet tail mintmark (MMS-004) represents a mintmark style variant that arose from the individual hand-punching of S mintmarks into each working die — slight differences in the punch angle or pressure at the terminal stroke created the flared appearance. Collectors should first verify the trumpet tail S mintmark to confirm the correct die, then examine LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST under 10-15x magnification for letter strokes that appear thicker than those on normal 1947-S cents.

Die Markers

• UVC-1762
• DMR-013
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• Obverse and Reverse are MDS
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Frank Baumann
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References