1963 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-049

Description

Nestled deep in the numbered sequence of 1963 P-mint doubled die obverse varieties, WDDO-049 of the Lincoln Memorial Cent reflects the statistical reality that a production run of 754,110,000 business-strike cents consumed enough working dies to generate dozens of individually distinct hubbing anomalies. The Philadelphia Mint's die shop operated under continuous demand throughout 1963, manufacturing obverse working dies by pressing the working hub into die blanks multiple times at high pressure. Even under carefully controlled conditions, fractional misalignment between hubbing impressions could occur, and the resulting secondary image became a permanent feature of the finished die. The Wexler Team attributed this variety and assigned it the catalog designation Wexler Variety ID 1963 1c WDDO-049, placing it within the authoritative Wexler Doubled Die Files. Collectors seeking this variety among 1963 P-mint cents should focus their examination on the obverse design elements most sensitive to hub displacement: the thin vertical strokes of letters in LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST, the serifs of the date numerals, and the fine contour lines of Lincoln's portrait, particularly the eyelid area. A quality stereo microscope or high-powered loupe with 10x to 20x magnification is recommended for distinguishing genuine hub doubling from die deterioration or machine doubling artifacts. The coin was struck on a 95% copper and 5% zinc planchet and carries no mint mark, consistent with all Philadelphia issues of the period.

Attribution History

• Wexler Variety ID: 1963 1¢ WDDO-049
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References