1962 Doubled Working Hub Reverse WWHR-002

Description

Second documented doubled working hub reverse for the 1962 Jefferson Nickel, attributed by the Wexler Team as Wexler Variety ID: 1962 Working Hub Reverse 2 (WWHR-002). The existence of multiple doubled working hubs for the 1962 date suggests that hub-level errors may have been particularly prevalent that year — possibly the result of a specific hubbing press calibration issue or the use of worn master dies that required heavier pressure and additional impressions. A working hub sits one level above a working die in the die manufacturing hierarchy: the master die creates the working hub, which in turn creates the working dies used to strike coins. Doubling at the hub level propagates to every die subsequently made from that hub, potentially affecting a far larger population of coins than a single doubled die would. The 1962 Jefferson Nickel was struck during what would prove to be the penultimate year before the Mint suspended proof production (1965-1967) and the last full year of normal pre-crisis production before the great coin shortage of 1964 prompted emergency measures. Felix Schlag's Monticello reverse, featuring Thomas Jefferson's Virginia estate, had been the standard design since 1938, and by 1962 the die manufacturing process was thoroughly established — making the occurrence of hub doubling a matter of statistical probability across the many hubs produced annually.

Attribution History

• Wexler Variety ID: 1962 Working Hub Reverse 2 (WWHR-002)
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References