1956-D Doubled Die Obverse DDO-001

Description

Cataloged by VarietyVista with die markers UVC-1880 and DMR-022, DDO-001 on the 1956-D Lincoln Wheat Cent displays a light spread south on the eyelid of Victor David Brenner's Lincoln portrait. Three die stages have been documented: Stage A (Early Die State) shows a die scratch running southwest from the mintmark into Lincoln's vest with additional die scratches on the reverse; Stage B represents the Mid Die State and remains unconfirmed; Stage C is the Late Die State, also unconfirmed. The localized eyelid doubling — where only a single facial feature shows detectable displacement — indicates the hub offset was extremely subtle, producing visible doubling only on the curved eyelid line where even fractional displacement creates a noticeable doubled contour against the smooth cheek surface below. The 1956-D was struck at the Denver Mint in the final years of the Lincoln Wheat Cent series before the transition to the Memorial reverse in 1959. Composed of 95% copper and 5% tin-and-zinc at 3.11 grams with a diameter of 19.0 mm, this cent represents the post-war era of large Denver mintages. As DDO-001, this variety holds the primary obverse catalog position for the 1956-D issue. The Stage A die marker of a die scratch from mintmark to vest provides an especially useful authentication point, allowing collectors to confirm the correct working die even before locating the subtle eyelid spread. Examination requires 10x or higher magnification focused specifically on the eyelid contour to detect the southward displacement.

Die Markers

• UVC-1880
• DMR-022
• Stage A:
• Die scratch from mintmark Southwest into vest – EDS
• Die scratches on Reverse
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Paul Kjellander
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References