1988 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-002

Description

Showing spread towards center on the date, bust, IN GOD WE TRUST, and upper right hair, WDDO-002 on the 1988 Philadelphia Lincoln Memorial cent affects a broad range of obverse design elements. The distribution of doubling across multiple zones — date, bust, motto, and hair — indicates that the hub misalignment during die manufacture was sufficient to leave its mark across the full vertical extent of the obverse design. The obverse die itself exhibits no significant die markers beyond the doubling, which means attribution relies primarily on the doubling characteristics rather than secondary identification points. On the reverse, a small gouge appears to the right of the second A in AMERICA, providing a die-pairing marker that helps confirm attribution when the obverse doubling alone is too subtle for definitive identification. Attributed by the Wexler Team, this variety was documented through the systematic examination of 1988 Philadelphia cent populations that has yielded eight distinct WDDO varieties for the date. The spread-towards-center doubling mechanism shared by WDDO-001 and WDDO-002 suggests these dies may have been hubbed during the same production session, when a consistent misalignment condition affected multiple dies processed in sequence. Struck at Philadelphia on copper-plated zinc planchets weighing 2.5 grams at 19mm diameter.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Lou Coles Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1988 1¢ WDDO-002
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References