1962 Doubled Die Obverse DDO-002

Description

Holding the DDO-002 position for the 1962 Franklin half dollar, this variety exhibits medium spread on LIBERTY and the 2 of the date with light spread extending onto WE TRUST on John R. Sinnock's obverse design. The variety carries the prestigious FS-101 cross-reference from the Cherrypickers' Guide to Rare Die Varieties, indicating recognition by the attribution community as a significant variety worthy of inclusion in the standard reference. VarietyVista documented this die under UVC-187 and DMR-004, tracking three die stages: Stage A at early die state (unconfirmed), Stage B where both obverse and reverse surfaces exhibit mid die state characteristics (confirmed), and Stage C at late die state (unconfirmed). The Franklin half dollar series (1948-1963) represented the last pre-Kennedy half dollar design, featuring Benjamin Franklin's portrait on the obverse and the Liberty Bell on the reverse. Philadelphia struck approximately 35.47 million Franklin halves in 1962, the penultimate year of the series before President Kennedy's assassination prompted the rapid design change in 1964. Medium spread on LIBERTY and the final digit 2 places the most prominent doubling on the left-side inscription and the date's terminal numeral, while the lighter spread on WE TRUST indicates diminishing displacement magnitude across the upper right portion of the obverse. The FS-101 designation — where FS stands for Fivaz-Stanton, the authors of the Cherrypickers' Guide — signals that this variety meets the criteria for collector significance and commercial recognition, often resulting in third-party grading service attribution on certified holders. Collectors should examine LIBERTY and the numeral 2 under 10-15x magnification, where the medium spread produces visible secondary letter and digit images displaced from the primary impressions.

Die Markers

• UVC-187
• DMR-004
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• Obverse and Reverse are MDS
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Dan Walker
• FS-101
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References