1948 Doubled Die Reverse DDR-008

Description

Medium spread on UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and HALF DOLLAR with light spread on E PLURIBUS UNUM characterizes DDR-008 on the 1948 Franklin Half Dollar — the inaugural year of John R. Sinnock's design that replaced the Walking Liberty Half Dollar. Die markers UVC-286 and DMR-009 document three stages: Stage A at Early Die State (unconfirmed), Stage B showing both reverse and obverse at Mid Die State, and Stage C at Late Die State (unconfirmed). VarietyVista cataloged this variety within the Franklin Half Dollars 1948-1963 series, a design whose Liberty Bell reverse provided the central motif for half dollars through fifteen years of production. Philadelphia struck 3,006,814 Franklin Half Dollars in 1948, a modest inaugural-year output as the Mint introduced the new design — Congress had required that the Walking Liberty design serve at least twenty-five years before replacement, and 1948 marked the first year after that requirement was satisfied. The medium spread on UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and HALF DOLLAR versus the lighter spread on E PLURIBUS UNUM indicates a displacement gradient across the reverse die face, with stronger doubling on the outer inscriptions and diminishing intensity inward — a pattern consistent with either pivoted or tilted hub displacement. Eight DDR varieties documented for the 1948 Franklin illustrate that die variety production began with the design's very first year, establishing a variety catalog from the series' origin.

Die Markers

• UVC-286
• DMR-009
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• Reverse and Obverse are MDS
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by James Wiles
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References