1997-D Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-015

Description

Fifteenth in the sequence of documented doubled die reverses for the 1997 Denver Mint Lincoln Memorial Cent, WDDR-015 underscores a fundamental principle of die variety numismatics: common dates by mintage can be uncommon by variety. While millions of 1997-D cents entered circulation indistinguishable to casual observers, each WDDR-numbered die produced a finite run of coins bearing its specific doubling signature — making individual varieties potentially scarce even within a large mintage. The gap between a coin's face-value commonality and its variety-specific scarcity is what drives the doubled die collecting specialty. Attribution requires matching the specimen's doubling characteristics and die markers against the published listing, a process demanding patience and familiarity with the Wexler catalog's diagnostic criteria. The 1997-D cent was produced on copper-plated zinc planchets at Denver, where high-speed coining operations consumed die pairs at rates that made individual die tracking impossible during production. Cataloged by the Wexler Team under Wexler Variety ID 1997-D 1c WDDR-015, this variety belongs to the Lincoln Memorial Cents series.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Steve Young Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1997-D 1¢ WDDR-015
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References