1965 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-006

Description

Numbered as the sixth Wexler doubled die obverse for the 1965 Lincoln cent, WDDO-006 is a business strike variety from the Philadelphia Mint's production of 1,497,224,900 cents during this transformative year in American coinage history. The Coinage Act of 1965 had reshaped the Mint's operations: proof sets were discontinued, mint marks were removed from all denominations, and the cent's composition was altered to eliminate tin — changing from the long-standing 95% copper and 5% tin-zinc alloy to 95% copper and 5% zinc. These changes were driven by the national coin shortage of the early 1960s, when rising silver prices caused widespread hoarding of silver coins and even base-metal coins became scarce as the economy outpaced the Mint's production capacity. The enormous 1965 cent mintage of nearly 1.5 billion pieces was part of the Mint's aggressive campaign to flood the market with coins and end the shortage. Such massive production required thousands of working dies, each manufactured through the multi-impression hubbing process where any misalignment between successive hub applications could create a doubled die variety. Cross-referenced as Wexler Variety ID: 1965 1¢ WDDO-006 and attributed by the Wexler Team. No significant die markers have been documented for this variety beyond the doubled die pattern itself, placing attribution responsibility on matching the specific doubling characteristics — its class, direction, magnitude, and affected design elements — against published reference photographs. Struck on a 3.11-gram, 19mm planchet of 95% copper and 5% zinc.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Keith Christenson Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1965 1¢ WDDO-006
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References