1972 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-011

Description

Presenting one of the more distinctive diagnostic features among the 1972 Philadelphia doubled dies, WDDO-011 shows an extra horizontal bar below the L of LIBERTY — a focused manifestation of Class I hub doubling where the rotational offset produces its most visible separation at this specific point on the die's design. One obverse die stage and one reverse die stage have been documented, indicating either a relatively short production life for this die or that intermediate states have not yet been identified from surviving specimens. The single-stage documentation means collectors can attribute this variety without the complexity of multi-stage comparison — any genuine WDDO-011 specimen should match the published die markers for the sole documented obverse and reverse state. Cross-referenced as Crawford CDDO-011, this variety lacks a CONECA sequence number and Cherrypickers' Guide FS listing, placing it outside the most widely referenced catalogs and making it less well-known among general collectors than the FS-listed varieties. For specialists, however, WDDO-011's focused doubling presentation — concentrated as an extra bar below the L rather than distributed broadly across multiple elements — makes it both an interesting study piece in how Class I rotation affects different design elements differently and a challenging attribution exercise where the collector must recognize a subtle feature that does not match the typical expectation of "doubled die = doubled letters everywhere." The extra bar below L represents the doubling of the letter's horizontal base serif, displaced by the hub rotation to appear as a distinct separate element below the primary serif. Die Markers: Obverse: A die gouge extends WNW from the upper left corner of the E of WE to the rim. Two strong die gouges show between the bottom of the front of the bust and the rim. Reverse: A strong die scratch extends NNE from the lower right side of the 1st Memorial column. A small die gouge (dot) can be found to the left of the lower left side of the 1st Memorial column. A small die gouge (dot) can be found below the E of UNITED. Small die gouges (dots) can be found to the left and right of the center of the T in CENT. A small die gouge can be found near the rim to the right of the 2nd A in AMERICA. A small die gouge (dot) can be found inside the upper N of ONE.

Attribution History

• Discovered by William Slaughter and upgraded by Brian Allen Cross References: Crawford: CDDO-011
• Crawford: CDDO-011; Wexler Variety ID: 1972 1¢ WDDO-011
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References