2007 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-004

Description

Widely spaced extra ear lobe doubling defines WDDO-004, a doubled die obverse attributed by the Wexler Team for the 2007 Philadelphia Mint Wyoming State Quarter — a dramatic and visually accessible form of doubled die obverse that makes this variety appealing to both specialists and general collectors. The doubling mechanism created a distinct secondary impression of Washington's ear, displaced far enough from the primary design to be visible without high magnification. Obverse die markers include a curved die scratch below the QU in QUARTER, while the reverse carries weak north-south die scratches through THE EQUALITY STATE and weak northeast-southwest die scratches through 2007 and E PLURIBUS UNUM, along with a die gouge in the lower opening of the W in WYOMING. Wyoming was the 44th state quarter issued in the 50 State Quarters program, and its reverse featured a bucking horse and rider — the same iconic image that appears on Wyoming's license plates. The State Quarters program, which ran from 1999 through 2008 and released five designs annually, generated extraordinary public interest in coin collecting and spawned intensive variety research across hundreds of distinct reverse designs. WDDO-004 on the Wyoming quarter demonstrates that obverse doubled dies could affect the common Washington portrait shared across all state quarter issues, since the obverse die was separate from the state-specific reverse and could develop hub doubling independently. The "extra ear" category of doubled die obverse ranks among the most collected Washington Quarter varieties due to its visual impact and relative ease of detection.

Attribution History

• Discovered by James Cassin Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 2007-P 25¢ WY WDDO-004
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References