1964 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-023

Description

Verified by the Wexler Team, the 1964 WDDO-023 adds another entry to the extensive doubled die obverse catalog for the Philadelphia Mint's record-setting 1964 cent production. The variety is cross-referenced under Wexler Variety ID: 1964 50¢ Pr WDDO-023. With over thirty recognized WDDO varieties for the 1964 Philadelphia cent alone, this date ranks among the most prolific in the entire Lincoln Memorial cent series for hub doubling. The sheer volume of production — 2,648,575,000 business strikes — required the manufacture of thousands of obverse working dies, each created through a multi-step hubbing process that involved pressing the master hub into a softened die blank, annealing, and pressing again. Any misalignment between these sequential impressions produced a doubled die, and across thousands of dies, the law of averages ensured that numerous misalignments occurred. For collectors, the challenge of distinguishing WDDO-023 from its neighbors in the catalog lies in the specific characteristics of its doubling spread: the direction of the secondary image relative to the primary, the areas of the design where the doubling is strongest, and any unique features of the spread pattern. Without published die markers, these doubling characteristics are the sole diagnostic tool, requiring careful comparison against reference images under magnification. Struck on a 95% copper, 5% tin-zinc planchet weighing 3.11 grams at 19mm diameter.

Attribution History

• Wexler Variety ID: 1964 50¢ Pr WDDO-023
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References