1962 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-046

Description

Widely recognized as one of the premier doubled die obverse varieties for the 1962 Lincoln Memorial Cent, WDDO-046 exhibits a strong Class II spread directed toward the center, with doubling visible on the date, the letters of IN GOD WE TRUST, Lincoln's nose, lips, and chin, and the right edge of the bowtie. Class II in the Wexler system designates distorted hub doubling in which the secondary impression was compressed or expanded relative to the primary image, and the center-directed spread draws the secondary outlines inward, creating doubled images along the inner edges of the affected devices. The variety is extensively cross-referenced as Coppercoins 1962P-1DO-020 and CONECA 20-O-II, and carries the Wexler Variety ID 1962 1c WDDO-046. What sets this variety apart from most entries in the 1962 catalog is the documentation of two distinct obverse die stages and two distinct reverse die stages, providing a comprehensive record of the die's progressive deterioration throughout its production life. In the first obverse stage, die markers include a short die scratch east-southeast from the right side of the designer's initials VDB, a die scratch running south-southeast from the lower left of the B in LIBERTY to the top of Lincoln's head, a small die gouge between the bottom of the I in IN and the rim, and a die scratch running south-southwest from the left foot of the N in IN. Additional markers include a very small die gouge northeast of the top of the B in LIBERTY, a curved die scratch south of the second T in TRUST, and a die scratch southwest-northeast left of Lincoln's shoulder. In the second obverse stage, the die developed a crack running from the rim through the top of the E in WE down through the bottom of the W, and the earlier die scratch near the designer's initials is no longer visible — likely polished away during a die maintenance session between stages. The first reverse stage carries parallel die scratches east-northeast from the E in ONE, a die scratch from the bottom of the L in MEMORIAL curving up to touch the bottom of the next column, a die gouge appearing as a dot below the left M in MEMORIAL, a small die gouge above the right side of the A in MEMORIAL, a die gouge south of the left side of the S in STATES, and a die gouge appearing as a dot below the lower left of the first A in AMERICA. In the second reverse stage, a die crack developed from the rim through the top of the A in STATES, a crack runs from the lower right of the second T in STATES through the bottom of ES, and the dot-like gouge below the first A in AMERICA is no longer visible. This progressive die state documentation — tracking the emergence of cracks and the disappearance of polished-away markers across both obverse and reverse stages — makes WDDO-046 one of the most thoroughly studied varieties in the entire 1962 series and provides collectors with an unusually precise framework for determining where their specimen falls in the die's production sequence. The variety was struck at the Philadelphia Mint during 1962, the final year of the original 95% copper alloy composition, when over 606 million cents were produced. Die chips can be found on the last Memorial column.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Bill Wilson Cross References: Coppercoins: 1962P-1DO-020, CONECA: 20-O-II
• Coppercoins: 1962P-1DO-020, CONECA: 20-O-II; Wexler Variety ID: 1962 1¢ WDDO-046
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References