1957 Doubled Die Obverse DDO-002

Description

Second in the obverse doubled die census for the 1957 Roosevelt silver dime, DDO-002 exhibits light extra thickness on the designer's initials (JS for John R. Sinnock) and the date — two small but diagnostically significant areas of John R. Sinnock's obverse design that has been in production since 1946. VarietyVista assigned die identifiers UVC-293 and DMR-004, documenting three die stages: Stage A at early die state (unconfirmed), Stage B at mid die state (unconfirmed), and Stage C where both obverse and reverse surfaces have reached late die state. The LDS confirmation for Stage C indicates specimens with advanced die wear have been examined, establishing that this die served long enough to develop visible deterioration before being retired. Philadelphia struck approximately 161.41 million silver Roosevelt dimes in 1957, a substantial production run that consumed numerous die pairs. The comment notation — indicating that VarietyVista needs to examine a specimen for new color digital photographs — reveals that updated reference imagery was still being sought when the catalog entry was created, a common situation for varieties initially documented from older black-and-white photographs or lower-resolution digital images. Light extra thickness on the designer's initials and date represents a subtle doubling that requires careful examination under magnification, as the secondary hub impression landed close enough to the primary to merely thicken the character strokes rather than produce clearly separated doubled images. The JS initials, positioned at the base of Roosevelt's neck truncation, and the date at the lower right of the obverse are both small-scale elements where even light doubling can be confirmed by comparing stroke widths against verified normal specimens. Collectors should use 15-20x magnification focused on these two diagnostic areas, using oblique lighting to accentuate the enhanced thickness.

Die Markers

• UVC-293
• DMR-004
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• Obverse and Reverse are LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by Delma K. Romines
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References