1990 Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-002

Description

Cataloged as Wexler WDDR-002 for the 1990 Philadelphia Lincoln Memorial cent, this doubled die reverse is part of an unusually dense cluster of reverse hubbing varieties documented for a single date and mint. Doubled die reverses on Lincoln Memorial cents form when the reverse hub is misaligned during one of the multiple hubbing impressions required to fully sink the design into the working die — the resulting die carries overlapping images that transfer to every coin it strikes. The Lincoln Memorial reverse, designed by Frank Gasparro and introduced in 1959, provides an architecture-rich canvas where hub misalignment produces telltale effects: extra column edges, doubled arch lines, thickened entablature details, and shifted inscriptions. Attribution to WDDR-002 rather than one of the eleven other cataloged 1990-P WDDRs requires comparison of the specific doubling pattern — the direction, magnitude, and distribution of the spread — against the Wexler reference images, supplemented by die marker matching. The 1990 date holds particular significance in the broader context of Lincoln cent variety collecting because it was the first year mint marks appeared on the master die, closing the book on repunched mint marks while doubled dies continued unaffected. Struck at the Philadelphia Mint on a copper-plated zinc planchet (97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper) at 2.5 grams and 19mm diameter.

Attribution History

• Wexler Variety ID: 1990 1¢ WDDR-002
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References