1962 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-016

Description

Continuing the sequence of doubled-eyelid varieties documented for the 1962 Lincoln Memorial Cent, WDDO-016 shows an extra eyelid below the normal eyelid on Lincoln's portrait — the hallmark of a slight vertical hub displacement during die production that shifted the fine facial details just enough to duplicate the eyelid line without producing visible doubling on the larger, less delicate design elements. This variety is among the more sparsely documented entries in the 1962 Wexler catalog, with die marker records noting only that the diagnostics are located on the obverse without specifying individual scratches or gouges. The limited documentation means that attributing WDDO-016 with full confidence currently depends heavily on process of elimination: confirming the doubled eyelid establishes membership in the eyelid-class group of 1962 DDO varieties, and then ruling out the die-specific markers of WDDO-011 (Y-of-LIBERTY scratch and bust scratches), WDDO-015 (strong chin-area scratch), WDDO-017 (X-shaped scratch near lips), and WDDO-023 (chin scratch with reverse cornice scratches) narrows the identification to WDDO-016. This elimination-based approach underscores the importance of comprehensive die marker documentation for distinguishing among varieties that share the same fundamental doubling characteristic. Struck at the Philadelphia Mint as a circulating issue in 1962, WDDO-016 was produced during the final year of the original copper alloy and entered commerce alongside over 606 million other Philadelphia-struck cents, making undiscovered specimens statistically likely to exist in quantity within accumulations and rolls of the date.

Die Markers

• Obverse

Attribution History

• Discovered by Wexler Team

External References