2013 Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-005

Description

Fifth in the reverse doubled die census for the 2013 Jefferson nickel, WDDR-005 exhibits Class VIII tilted hub doubling visible below the upper portion of the door frame on the center door above the steps of Felix Schlag's Monticello architectural rendering. Tilted hub doubling — Class VIII in the Wexler classification system — results from the hub and die surfaces meeting at a slight angle rather than perfectly parallel, creating a progressive displacement that varies across the die face depending on distance from the tilt axis. The Monticello facade, restored to the Jefferson nickel reverse beginning in 2006 after the two-year Westward Journey interlude, features a columned portico with a central doorway whose frame provides fine architectural detail susceptible to revealing even modest hub displacement. The reverse die markers offer a strong secondary diagnostic for this variety: a die crack connecting the tops of the letters STAT in STATES, providing a distinctive linear feature independent of the doubling itself that confirms the correct working die. No significant obverse die markers were recorded. Philadelphia produced millions of nickels in 2013, with production volumes that consumed numerous die pairs across the year's coining operations. Collectors searching for WDDR-005 should first locate the die crack across STAT on the reverse as a quick screening diagnostic, then examine the door frame area above the Monticello steps under 10-15x magnification, where the tilted hub mechanism produces displaced secondary impressions of the horizontal and vertical frame elements visible as shadowed or thickened architectural lines below the upper door frame structure.

Die Markers

• Obverse: None noted.
• Reverse: Die crack connecting tops of STAT of STATES.

External References