1964-D Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-007

Description

Amid the billions of Lincoln cents that poured from the Denver Mint in 1964, the dies used to strike them underwent constant replacement as they wore down under the relentless pace of production. WDDO-007 documents one of these dies — an obverse working die that entered service carrying a doubled design image from its hubbing process and then struck its allotment of circulation-quality Lincoln cents before being retired and replaced. The doubling originated during die manufacture, when the obverse working hub was pressed into the die blank multiple times to transfer the full design, and a fractional misalignment between impressions superimposed a secondary image onto the primary design. This secondary image, permanently embedded in the die steel, was reproduced on every cent the die struck. The context of 1964-D cent production is remarkable: 3,799,071,500 pieces, the highest Lincoln cent mintage from a single mint to that point, driven by a coin shortage that had escalated from an inconvenience into a national crisis. The shortage prompted extreme measures — extended production shifts, emergency legislation, and ultimately the removal of mint marks from all United States coins beginning in 1965 to discourage collectors from hoarding date-and-mint-mark combinations. The 1964-D cent was thus the last D-mint Lincoln cent until 1968, giving varieties from this date an added dimension of collecting appeal. WDDO-007 should be confirmed through careful comparison of the doubling pattern against published Wexler reference images, using at least 10x magnification with oblique lighting. Struck on a 95% copper and 5% tin-zinc planchet weighing 3.11 grams at 19mm.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Wexler Team

External References