1955 Doubled Die Reverse DDR-004

Description

Fourth in the reverse doubled die census for the 1955 Washington quarter proof, DDR-004 delivers strong spread across QUARTER DOLLAR, both olive and oak branch stems, and the lower leaves, with light spread also detectable on the R of AMERICA. The strong classification for QUARTER DOLLAR and the structural design elements — the highest magnitude rating in the spread hierarchy — signals dramatic hub displacement that produced clearly visible secondary images without requiring extreme magnification. John Flanagan's reverse design, featuring a heraldic eagle perched above a bundle of arrows with olive and oak branches, provides detailed organic elements where hub doubling is readily apparent in the overlapping leaf and stem contours. VarietyVista assigned identifiers UVC-0853 and DMR-008, documenting three die stages: Stage A at early die state (unconfirmed), Stage B where both reverse and obverse surfaces are at mid die state, and Stage C where both have progressed to late die state. The MDS and LDS confirmations establish that specimens exist in both intermediate and advanced die wear states. Critically, the comments note this is a proof issue — struck at Philadelphia with polished dies and specially prepared planchets. The 1955 proof set mintage of approximately 378,200 sets limits the maximum population, making proof varieties inherently scarcer than their business-strike counterparts. Proof surfaces enhance variety visibility: the mirror fields and frosted devices create high contrast that makes even subtle doubling more apparent, while the strong spread on this DDR-004 should be clearly visible under 7-10x magnification. The combination of strong spread classification on a low-mintage proof issue positions this variety as one of the more desirable DDRs in the Washington quarter catalog for the 1950s decade.

Die Markers

• UVC-0853
• DMR-008
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• Reverse and Obverse are MDS
• Stage C:
• Reverse and Obverse are LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by James Wiles
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References