1956 Doubled Die Reverse DDR-015

Description

VarietyVista catalogs this Jefferson Nickel reverse die under UVC-932 and DMR-019, documenting light spread on E PLURIBUS UNUM with a notable tripling effect on UNUM — meaning three distinct impressions of the word UNUM are visible where only one should exist, produced by three slightly offset hub impressions during die manufacture. Tripling on a specific word while the rest of the inscription shows only standard doubling indicates that UNUM occupied a position on the die face where all three hub impressions produced detectable offset, whereas the preceding words E PLURIBUS received displacement from only two of the three impressions that exceeded the visibility threshold. This differential response across a single inscription line is characteristic of complex multi-impression hubbing events where the displacement vectors between successive hub contacts were not uniform. Three die stages trace this die's production history: Stage A (Early Die State) and Stage B (Mid Die State) are both unconfirmed, while Stage C documents the Late Die State with a specific diagnostic — a die gouge in the upper field of the M of UNUM accompanied by LDS characteristics on the obverse. The die gouge near the tripled UNUM area in Late Die State may represent progressive deterioration around the region of maximum hub stress, as the triple-impressed area potentially created microscopic stress concentrations in the die steel that accelerated fatigue cracking and metal loss. The 1956 Jefferson Nickel was struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 75% copper / 25% nickel at 5 grams. Examination should focus on UNUM under 10x magnification, looking for three distinct letter outlines rather than the typical two seen in standard doubled dies.

Die Markers

• UVC-932
• DMR-019
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• Die gouge in upper field of M of UNUM – LDS
• Obverse is LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by James Wiles
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References