1970-S Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-051

Description

Near the end of the Wexler doubled die obverse catalog for the 1970-S Lincoln Memorial cent, WDDO-051 documents a Large Date regular strike die with doubling visible under the 7 and below the top of the 0 in the date. These locations indicate hub misalignment affecting the date region, where extra metal from the secondary impression creates shadow lines beneath and within these numerals. Attribution is reinforced by an unusually rich set of die scratches across both surfaces. Detailed die scratches pass through RTY in LIBERTY, a strong scratch descends from above zero in the date, triangle-pattern scratches appear above the right cornice of the Memorial, and parallel scratches run through the E in ONE on the reverse. This constellation — RTY scratches, a cornice triangle, parallel E scratches — gives collectors multiple independent attribution checkpoints distributed across both surfaces. For a variety this deep in the WDDO sequence, such abundant die markers compensate for what is likely subtle doubling, making identification feasible even for collectors less experienced with doubled die detection on high-numbered catalog entries.

Attribution History

• Discovered by John Shields Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1970-S 1¢ WDDO-051
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References