1999-D Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-015

Description

Cataloged by the Wexler Team as Wexler Variety ID 1999-D 1c WDDR-015 with no other known cross-references, this doubled die reverse on the 1999-D Lincoln Memorial Cent features a bar extending from the upper hand to the lower leg to the right of the statue on the seventh column of Frank Gasparro's Memorial design. No significant obverse die markers were noted, while the reverse carries an abundance of die chips: above the G of FG (designer's initials), within the lower N of UNITED, to the right of the lower N of UNITED, and between the bottoms of the R and I of AMERICA — four distinct die chip locations providing extensive die authentication data. The "bar" manifestation, similar to that seen on the 1997 WDDR-031, represents a visually dramatic form of hub doubling on Memorial Cents where the displaced secondary impression creates an apparent connecting element between the Lincoln statue's anatomical features — in this case, from the upper hand to the lower leg — that bridges the seventh column area. The 1999-D Lincoln Memorial Cent was struck at the Denver Mint in copper-plated zinc at 2.50 grams with a 19.0 mm diameter, during the final decade of the Memorial reverse design. The four reverse die chips document a die that had accumulated significant surface deterioration, suggesting this variety is most commonly found on specimens struck relatively late in the die's service life when chips had developed. The cluster of chips around UNITED and AMERICA inscriptions, combined with the FG chip, provides a rapid multi-point authentication approach under 7x magnification before confirming the bar feature between the statue's hand and leg on the seventh column.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Steve Young Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1999-D 1¢ WDDR-015
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References