2009 Doubled Die Reverse DDR-023

Description

Medium spread southward producing an extra thumb tip below the normal thumb is the defining diagnostic for DDR-023 on the 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial Cent, a variety from the special four-design reverse program commemorating the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth. The affected reverse likely depicts the young Lincoln reading a book — the "Formative Years in Indiana" design by Charles Vickers — where the southward hub shift generated a ghost image of the thumb tip displaced downward from its intended position. VarietyVista assigns die markers UVC-2655 and DMR-026, with three stages documented: Stage A shows both reverse and obverse in Early Die State, while Stages B (MDS) and C (LDS) remain unconfirmed. The 2009 Bicentennial Cents were released in four sequential reverse designs representing Lincoln's birth and early childhood in Kentucky, formative years in Indiana, professional life in Illinois, and presidency in Washington, D.C. This program generated intense collector interest and prompted careful examination that yielded dozens of doubled die varieties across all four designs. The extra thumb tip below the normal position is a particularly human diagnostic — the doubling on a recognizable body part is more immediately intuitive than doubling on lettering or abstract design elements — making DDR-023 accessible even to relatively inexperienced variety collectors. The 2009-P cent was produced on standard zinc-plated copper planchets, and the commemorative nature of the program ensures sustained collector attention to documented varieties.

Die Markers

• UVC-2655
• DMR-026
• Stage A:
• Reverse and Obverse are EDS
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Jason Dick
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References