1960 Doubled Die Reverse DDR-003

Description

Third doubled die reverse for the 1960 Philadelphia Mint Franklin Half Dollar, DDR-003 presents a medium spread concentrated on the AR of DOLLAR — a focused area of doubling on the reverse denomination inscription. Cataloged by VarietyVista with technical codes UVC-144 and DMR-011, the die stage documentation shows Stage A with both reverse and obverse in early die state, while Stages B (mid-die state) and C (late die state) remain unconfirmed. The Franklin Half Dollar series (1948-1963) featured John R. Sinnock's portrait of Benjamin Franklin on the obverse and a Liberty Bell reverse designed by the same artist. The series ran for only sixteen years before being replaced by the Kennedy Half Dollar in 1964, making the total population of Franklin Half Dollar die varieties more finite than many longer-running series. The 1960-P Franklin had a mintage of 6,024,000 for business strikes — a relatively modest figure that limits the number of die pairs used and consequently constrains the pool of potential doubled die events. Three DDR varieties for this date represents a moderate count consistent with the production volume. The medium spread on AR of DOLLAR indicates that the hub doubling affected the denomination inscription more prominently than other reverse elements, suggesting the misalignment between hub and die was oriented in a direction that produced maximum visible displacement in that specific area. Cataloged by VarietyVista, DDR-003 adds to the documented die variety catalog for a series that collectors value for its relative brevity and the resulting completeness achievable in variety set building.

Die Markers

• UVC-144
• DMR-011
• Stage A:
• Reverse and Obverse are EDS
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by James Wiles
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References