1968-S Proof Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-005

Description

This listing documents the proof version of the 1968-S WDDO-005 doubled die obverse variety, representing the same hub doubling event cataloged under the Wexler designation WDDO-005 for the 1968-S proof Lincoln Memorial cent. The 1968-S proof cent was the first standard proof issue struck at the San Francisco Mint since the 1964 date, after the three-year interruption imposed by the Coinage Act of 1965 during which Special Mint Sets replaced traditional proof sets. Proof coins are manufactured under controlled conditions using specially polished dies and planchets, and the resulting mirror-like fields and frosted devices provide an ideal surface for examining doubled die characteristics. On proof specimens, the doubling appears with particular clarity because the reflective fields create a high-contrast background against which even subtle shifts in letter position become visible. Doubled die obverse varieties on 1968-S proofs hold a special place in Lincoln cent collecting because the 1968 proof set represented a return to normalcy for collectors who had gone three years without the proof coins they had come to expect as annual offerings from the Mint. Any manufacturing anomaly on these long-awaited proofs attracted immediate scrutiny from the collecting community. The 1968-S proof cent was struck on a 3.11-gram, 19mm planchet of 95% copper and 5% zinc at the San Francisco Mint.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Wexler Team

External References