1970-S Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-010

Description

Exhibiting tripling rather than the standard doubling found on most DDO varieties, the 1970-S WDDO-010 under the Large Date parent documents a die that received three distinct hub impressions with visible misalignment between them — producing not two but three overlapping sets of design elements in the affected areas above the 7 in the date. Tripled dies are significantly less common than doubled dies in the Lincoln cent series because the anomaly requires three separate hubbing events to produce misaligned impressions, whereas most doubled dies result from just two. The die also displays die clash marks, indicating that at some point during its production run the obverse and reverse dies struck each other without a planchet between them, leaving incuse traces of each die's design on the opposing die's surface. Two obverse die stages and two reverse die stages have been documented, tracking the die's evolution across its service life. A particularly distinctive die marker identifies this variety: die gouges that form a shape described as a "semi-colon" between the N and I in UNITED on the reverse, providing a memorable and easily located diagnostic feature for attributors examining potential specimens. No cross-references to other attribution systems have been recorded, making the Wexler catalog the primary documentation source. The Large Date parent classification under ODV-025 positions the tripling above the 7 within the wider digit spacing of the Large Date hub, and the combination of tripling, die clash marks, and the distinctive semi-colon die gouge gives WDDO-010 a diagnostic profile unlike any other variety in the 1970-S doubled die roster. Numerous die scratches run from SW to NE to the left of the bust. The die has been abraded creating new die scratch patterns to the left of the bust. Two parallel die scratches run from SW to NE to the right of the lower N of IN. Numerous other die scratches can be found throughout the obverse. Reverse Stage A: A short, strong die gouge runs north from the upper right D in UNITED. Short, strong die scratches run north from the top right of the Memorial roof.

Attribution History

• Discovered by John A. Wexler Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1970-S 1¢ WDDO-010
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References