1963 Doubled Working Hub Reverse WWHR-001

Description

First documented doubled working hub reverse for the 1963 Jefferson Nickel, attributed by the Wexler Team as Wexler Variety ID: 1963 Working Hub Reverse 1 (WWHR-001). The 1963 date continues the pattern of hub-level reverse doubling documented across the early 1960s Jefferson Nickel run — with four WWHRs known for 1961, four for 1962, and now entries beginning for 1963, this three-year cluster represents an unusual concentration of hub manufacturing variability. Working hub doubling originates when the master die impresses the hub blank with a slight misalignment between multiple hubbing passes, and the resulting doubled hub then transfers its doubled image to every working die it produces. This differs from a doubled working die (a standard DDR) in both its origin point and its multiplicative reach. The 1963 Jefferson Nickel was the last date before the watershed year of 1964, when unprecedented production volumes and the looming coin shortage would transform Mint operations. Felix Schlag's Monticello reverse, with its finely detailed architectural portico, had been in service for twenty-five years by 1963. The two WWHRs documented for 1963 (001 and 002) suggest the trend of hub-level issues carried forward from the preceding years, though at a reduced frequency compared to the four-hub counts seen in 1961 and 1962.

Attribution History

• Wexler Variety ID: 1963 Working Hub Reverse 1 (WWHR-001)
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References