2004 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-016

Description

Sixteenth in the documented obverse doubled die census for the 2004 Lincoln Memorial cent, WDDO-016 exhibits extra thickness on LIBERTY with distinctive notching visible on the upper left portion of the ERTY letter group. Victor David Brenner's portrait of Abraham Lincoln has been the standard obverse since 1909, and by 2004 the Philadelphia Mint was producing billions of cents annually — an output that generated enormous numbers of working dies and proportionally more opportunities for hub doubling events to occur. The Wexler Team cataloged this variety under Wexler Variety ID: 2004 1¢ WDDO-016, recording no significant die markers on either the obverse or reverse surfaces. Extra thickness rather than directional spread tells collectors that the secondary hub impression landed almost directly atop the primary, thickening the affected letters rather than producing visibly separated secondary images. The notching diagnostic on the upper left of ERTY provides an especially useful attribution point, as the angular geometry of these letter junctions tends to accentuate even slight displacement that would be invisible on rounded letter curves. Collectors examining 2004 cents should use oblique fiber-optic lighting at approximately 10-15x magnification to detect the extra thickness on LIBERTY, comparing letter stroke widths against confirmed normal examples from the same date. Cross-references include the Wexler designation; no CONECA or other attribution system listings are currently known for this variety.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Brian Allen Cross References: None known Go To: 2004 1¢ WDDR
• None known Go To: 2004 1¢ WDDR; Wexler Variety ID: 2004 1¢ WDDO-016
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References