1967 Doubled Die Reverse DDR-006

Description

Displaying the reverse of the typical progressive doubling gradient, DDR-006 on the 1967 Jefferson Nickel exhibits light spread on UNITED STATES OF AMERICA that decreases from left to right — the opposite directionality from the more commonly encountered left-to-right increasing pattern. Die markers UVC-1316 and DMR-009 confirm this working die. This decreasing spread indicates the Class V pivot point lay to the right of the affected inscription rather than to the left, producing maximum displacement at the leftward U of UNITED and tapering to minimal offset at the final A of AMERICA. The reversed gradient is a less frequently documented orientation for pivoted doubling in the Jefferson Nickel series, making DDR-006 mechanically distinctive among its contemporaries. The 1967 nickel occupies a unique position in United States coinage: it was struck during the three-year mintmark removal period (1965-1967) when the Treasury eliminated all mintmarks from circulating coins to discourage date-and-mint collecting that officials blamed for exacerbating the national coin shortage. Consequently, the 1967 nickel bears no mintmark regardless of which facility struck it, and the coin cannot be attributed to a specific mint by external features alone. Felix Schlag's reverse positions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA above Monticello, where the right-to-left diminishment is best confirmed by comparing letter offset at the beginning and end of the inscription under magnification.

Die Markers

• UVC-1316; DMR-009

External References