1972-S Doubled Die Obverse DDO-001

Description

DDO-001 on the 1972-S Washington quarter features light extra thickness on IN GOD WE TRUST and the date, both key diagnostic zones on John Flanagan's obverse design. As a San Francisco Mint proof issue, this clad quarter was struck with polished dies on specially prepared planchets for inclusion in the 1972 proof set, which had a total production of approximately 3.26 million sets. Proof die production involved the same hubbing process as business strikes, making doubled dies possible even in the carefully controlled proof environment — the hub misalignment simply occurred during die manufacturing rather than during the striking process itself. Reported by Timothy Wissert, a noted contributor to the Washington quarter doubled die census, DDO-001 holds the primary catalog designation for the 1972-S obverse doublings. The light extra thickness on TRUST and the date digits creates a slightly bolder appearance compared to normal proof strikes, best detected by comparing the affected areas against undoubled proof examples from the same year under 5-10x magnification.

External References