1963 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-052

Description

Identified by the Wexler Team and carrying the catalog designation Wexler Variety ID 1963 1c WDDO-052, this doubled die obverse of the 1963 Lincoln Memorial Cent adds to the extensive record of hubbing anomalies that occurred during one of the highest-production years for Philadelphia Mint cents. The process that creates doubled dies was an inherent aspect of mid-twentieth-century die manufacture, in which the design was transferred from a working hub to a die blank through multiple applications of tremendous hydraulic pressure. The hub and die had to be aligned precisely for each impression, and even with the registration devices available to the Mint in 1963, slight variations in positioning between strokes could produce measurable secondary images on the finished die. Because each working die was hubbed independently, the specific character of any misalignment was unique to that die, giving rise to the individual catalog entries that make up the Wexler numbering system. WDDO-052 was struck on a 95% copper and 5% zinc planchet at the Philadelphia Mint without a mint mark, as part of a total business-strike production of 754,110,000 cents for the year. The obverse bears Victor David Brenner's portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and the reverse displays Frank Gasparro's rendering of the Lincoln Memorial. Collectors searching for this variety should work under magnification with angled lighting and should have reference images readily available, as distinguishing between closely numbered varieties in the fifties requires precise die marker comparison.

Attribution History

• Wexler Variety ID: 1963 1¢ WDDO-052
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References