1964-D Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-016

Description

Rounding out this catalog segment, the 1964-D Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-016 is a regular-strike variety from the Denver Mint's monumental 1964 Lincoln cent production, which at 3,799,071,500 pieces represented the peak of the emergency coinage effort mounted to combat the national coin shortage. The shortage had roots in multiple converging factors — population growth, the expansion of coin-operated commerce, rising silver prices that encouraged hoarding of silver coins, and speculative accumulation of rolls and bags by investors — and the Mint's response was to produce coins at the highest sustainable rate, running extended shifts and consuming dies at an accelerated pace. This environment of maximum-throughput production created an enormous number of individual hubbing sessions during die manufacture, each carrying the possibility of the slight hub misalignment that produces a doubled die variety. WDDO-016 preserves the doubled obverse from one such session, a secondary design image permanently embedded in the die steel during the hubbing process and then reproduced on every cent the die struck during its operational life. The vast majority of 1964-D cents have never been examined for varieties, meaning that the full extent of the doubled die population for this date may remain incompletely documented despite the already substantial Wexler catalog. The 1964-D cent marks the end of mint marks on Denver coinage until 1968 and remains one of the most accessible dates for variety hunting due to its enormous surviving population. The coin was struck on a 95% copper and 5% tin-zinc planchet at 19mm diameter and 3.11 grams, bearing the Brenner portrait and Gasparro Memorial reverse.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Wexler Team

External References