1964-D Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-005

Description

Notable as a dual-characteristic die, the 1964-D Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-005 carries not only the doubled obverse design that defines DDO varieties but also an extremely minor tilted or rotated repunched mint mark on the obverse. This combination means the die experienced two distinct anomalies during its preparation: the hubbing misalignment that created the doubled obverse design and a separate incident in which the D mint mark punch was applied to the die with a slight tilt or rotation relative to the initial impression. In the pre-1990 era, mint marks on Lincoln cents were hand-punched into the working die by a Mint employee, making repunched mint marks a relatively common occurrence that was independent of the hubbing process. The coexistence of both characteristics on a single die makes WDDO-005 of particular interest to collectors who specialize in tracking the full production history of individual working dies. The Denver Mint struck 3,799,071,500 Lincoln cents in 1964 — a record mintage driven by the national coin shortage — consuming thousands of working dies over the course of the year. Each die underwent its own individual hubbing and mint mark application, creating independent opportunities for anomalies at both stages. The 1964-D cent was the last Denver Mint Lincoln cent to carry a mint mark before Congress ordered their removal beginning in 1965 as part of the response to the coin shortage. Struck as a regular-strike circulation coin on a 95% copper and 5% tin-zinc planchet weighing 3.11 grams at 19mm diameter, the coin bears Brenner's Lincoln portrait and Gasparro's Memorial reverse.

Die Markers

• Obverse: The obverse is an extremely minor tilted/rotated repunched mint mark.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Wexler Team

External References