1956 Doubled Die Obverse DDO-006

Description

John R. Sinnock's Franklin half dollar design features Benjamin Franklin's portrait on the obverse with LIBERTY inscribed above, and DDO-006 on the 1956 Philadelphia issue captures medium extra thickness concentrated on the LIBERTY inscription. VarietyVista documents this under UVC-098 with die marriage reference DMR-012, tracking three die stages: Stage A with both obverse and reverse in Early Die State, Stage B with both in Mid Die State, and Stage C in Late Die State (unconfirmed). The noted comment "Reverse is RDV-002" identifies the companion reverse as Reverse Die Variety #2, a specific reverse die configuration that die variety specialists use to map die marriage lineages in the Franklin half dollar series. Philadelphia struck approximately 4.03 million half dollars in 1956, all in 90% silver composition. Medium extra thickness on LIBERTY means the inscription letters appear bolder and heavier than normal production output, with the secondary hub impression overlapping the primary closely enough to produce thickened strokes rather than separated secondary images. The Franklin half dollar series (1948-1963) occupies a compact fifteen-year window that preceded the Kennedy half dollar, and its die variety census benefits from focused specialist attention within that defined scope. The RDV-002 reverse pairing provides attributors with a confirming diagnostic beyond the obverse doubling, as the reverse die variety classification offers an independent identification pathway. DDO-006 sits in the middle of the 1956 obverse doubled die census, numbered after five earlier-cataloged varieties.

Die Markers

• UVC-098
• DMR-012
• Stage A:
• Obverse and Reverse are EDS
• Stage B:
• Obverse and Reverse are MDS
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by James Wiles
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References