1963 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-031

Description

Closing the current range of this batch, the 1963 Lincoln Memorial Cent WDDO-031 is attributed by the Wexler Team and cataloged under Wexler Variety ID 1963 1c WDDO-031. As the thirty-first doubled die obverse documented for the 1963 P-mint cent, this variety extends a catalog that testifies to the extraordinary volume of die production at the Philadelphia Mint during the early 1960s. The 754,110,000 business-strike cents produced in 1963 required a continuous supply of fresh working dies throughout the year, and the multi-impression hubbing process through which each die received its design created a persistent probability of misalignment that manifested across dozens of individual dies. Doubled die obverse varieties are true die varieties in the numismatic sense: they are not random striking anomalies but systematic defects embedded in the die itself and reproduced on every coin struck from it, giving each variety a defined population of surviving specimens proportional to the number of coins produced before the die was retired or replaced. The Wexler Variety ID designation links this variety to the comprehensive Wexler Doubled Die Files, one of the most widely referenced attribution resources for United States doubled die varieties. The coin was struck on a 95% copper and 5% zinc planchet without a mint mark and carries Victor David Brenner's obverse portrait of Abraham Lincoln paired with Frank Gasparro's rendering of the Lincoln Memorial. Collectors and attributors should consult the Wexler Files for die photographs and detailed doubling descriptions to confirm identification of this variety.

Attribution History

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

External References