1963 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-070

Description

Among the many proof doubled die obverse varieties that have been cataloged for the 1963 Lincoln Memorial Cent, WDDO-070 occupies a position that reflects the remarkable depth of the Wexler attribution catalog for this date. Seventy distinct doubled obverse dies documented for a single year and mint combination is a figure that would have seemed improbable in the early decades of variety collecting, yet it follows naturally from the scale of die production at the Philadelphia Mint during the early 1960s. Proof dies were manufactured through the same hubbing process used for business-strike dies — the working hub pressed into a die blank under hydraulic force, multiple times, to achieve the full design depth — and any fractional misalignment between these impressions created a permanent doubled image that no amount of subsequent chrome plating or polishing could remove. WDDO-070 carries this doubled image and transmitted it to every proof cent it struck during its service life of approximately 3,000 impressions, a small fraction of the 3,075,645 total proof Lincoln cents produced in 1963. The proof production context means that surviving specimens display the mirror fields and crisp device definition that make proof coins ideal for variety examination. Cross-referenced as Wexler Variety ID 1963 1c Pr WDDO-070 and attributed by the Wexler Team, this variety should be confirmed through die marker comparison with reference photographs. Struck on a 95% copper and 5% zinc planchet, the coin bears Victor David Brenner's Lincoln portrait and Frank Gasparro's Memorial reverse.

Attribution History

• Wexler Variety ID: 1963 1¢ Pr WDDO-070
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References