1971-S Doubled Die Obverse DDO-001

Description

Holding the primary obverse doubled die designation for the 1971-S Jefferson nickel, DDO-001 presents very light spread on LIBERTY, the star, the date, and Felix Schlag's designer initials FS. The variety comments provide critical supplementary information: the paired reverse is RDV-006, the "strong railings" variant of Monticello, and this reverse die is additionally listed as DDR-001 — meaning the die marriage combines the primary obverse doubled die with the primary reverse doubled die for the 1971-S date, creating a coin where both sides exhibit hub-doubling from separate manufacturing events. VarietyVista documents this under UVC-1392 with die marriage reference DMR-009. San Francisco produced approximately 106.9 million nickels in 1971. The dual-doubled-die marriage — DDO-001 paired with DDR-001 — makes this one of the more significant die combinations in the 1971-S nickel census, as collectors obtain both obverse and reverse doubled die attribution on a single coin. Very light obverse spread requires patient examination under optimal lighting, and the designer's initials FS near Jefferson's shoulder provide the most magnification-efficient diagnostic due to their small scale. The RDV-006 strong railings reverse identification offers a useful first screening step — collectors can check the railing prominence on the reverse, then confirm the DDR-001 characteristics, before attempting the most demanding element: resolving the very light obverse spread on LIBERTY, the star, and the date.

Die Markers

• UVC-1392; DMR-009

External References