1963-D Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-031

Description

Identified by the Wexler Team and cataloged under Wexler Variety ID 1963-D 1c WDDO-031, this Doubled Die Obverse variety of the 1963-D Lincoln Memorial Cent adds another documented hubbing anomaly to what has become one of the most extensively researched date-mintmark combinations in the Lincoln cent series. The process that creates a doubled die obverse is mechanical and repeatable: during die production, the working hub must be pressed into the working die blank multiple times to fully transfer the design, and if the alignment shifts between impressions, a secondary image is permanently recorded in the die. That die then stamps the doubled image onto every planchet it strikes, creating a population of identically doubled coins that constitute the variety. The 1963-D cent is particularly fertile ground for DDO discoveries because its mintage of 1,774,020,400 required the Denver Mint to consume die pairs at an extraordinary rate, and each new die represented a fresh opportunity for a hubbing misalignment to occur. Collectors who specialize in cherry-picking 1963-D varieties often develop a systematic approach — sorting through rolls or bags under consistent lighting, checking each coin at the key obverse diagnostic points, and setting aside any coin that shows potential doubling for closer examination with higher magnification. No additional cross-references are currently known for WDDO-031. The coin was produced on the standard 95% copper and 5% zinc planchet composition that had been adopted in 1962 when tin was removed from the alloy.

Attribution History

• Wexler Variety ID: 1963-D 1¢ WDDO-031
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References