1997 Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-038

Description

Cataloged by the Wexler Team as 1997 1¢ WDDR-038, this Lincoln Memorial Cent doubled die reverse is the thirty-eighth documented DDR for the 1997 Philadelphia date, reflecting the enormous die population required for modern cent production and the systematic examination these high-volume issues receive from variety specialists. No other cross-references beyond the Wexler designation have been established. The Lincoln Memorial Cent reverse, designed by Frank Gasparro and introduced in 1959 to replace the wheat stalks reverse on the sesquicentennial of Lincoln's birth, features a frontal view of the Lincoln Memorial with the inscription E PLURIBUS UNUM above and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and ONE CENT below. Hub doubling on this architectural reverse can affect the building's columns, steps, and structural details as well as the surrounding inscriptions, with each WDDR number documenting a unique working die that received its own distinct hub misalignment during manufacture. The 1997 Lincoln Memorial Cent was struck in zinc with copper plating — the composition adopted in 1982 — consisting of 97.5% zinc core with 2.5% copper plating, weighing 2.5 grams with a diameter of 19.0 mm and a plain edge. Victor David Brenner's obverse portrait of Abraham Lincoln, now approaching its ninetieth year on the denomination by 1997, continued to pair with Gasparro's Memorial reverse throughout the Modern Clad Era. The high catalog number of WDDR-038 positions this variety within a large family of documented doubled die reverses, typical of high-mintage modern Philadelphia cent production where hundreds of working dies generate statistically frequent hub doubling events.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Steve Young Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1997 1¢ WDDR-038
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References