1949-S Doubled Die Obverse DDO-002

Description

Listed in the VarietyVista die registry as UVC-2562 / DMR-014, this 1949-S Lincoln Wheat Cent DDO-002 presents medium spread on the digits 194 of the date along with a distinctive date numeral anomaly: a blunt-top 4 doubled over a pointed-top 4. This blunt-over-pointed 4 is diagnostically significant because it reveals that two different hub states — one with a pointed-top 4 design and one with a blunt-top 4 — were used to impress this working die during successive hubbing operations, creating not just positional doubling but a visible design variation between the two date digit impressions. Three documented die stages track the pair's production life: Stage A in mid-die-state (MDS) showing a minor split-serif repunched mintmark with the reverse also in MDS; Stage B with both obverse and reverse in MDS; and Stage C in late die state (LDS) with north-south die scratches on the obverse and the reverse also in LDS. The Stage A observation of a minor split-serif RPM makes this a combination variety — a doubled die obverse that also exhibits a repunched mintmark on the same coin, enhancing its interest to variety collectors. The Lincoln Wheat Cent was struck at the San Francisco Mint in 1949 in bronze composition (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc) weighing 3.11 grams with a 19.05 mm diameter. Victor David Brenner's obverse portrait of Abraham Lincoln was paired with the wheat ears reverse in use from 1909 through 1958. The convergence of a blunt-over-pointed date numeral with a split-serif RPM on a single die creates a multi-feature variety with several independent diagnostic checkpoints for attribution.

Die Markers

• UVC-2562
• DMR-014
• Stage A:
• Minor split serif RPM – MDS
• Reverse is MDS
• Stage B:
• Obverse and Reverse are MDS
• Stage C:
• Die Scratches North-South on Obverse – LDS
• Reverse is LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by Frank Bruske
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References