2014 Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-001

Description

Attributed by the Wexler Team under Variety ID 2014 1c WDDR-001 with no other known cross-references, this Lincoln Shield Cent shows extra thickness on the designer's initials LB (for Lyndall Bass, the reverse designer) and JFM (for Joseph F. Menna, the sculptor-engraver). Obverse die markers include a small die gouge forming a dot to the right of the throat on Lincoln's portrait. The reverse displays more complex deterioration: a die crack runs across the top left of the union shield, with small die chips appearing north of the LU in PLURIBUS, and an additional die chip south of the UR in PLURIBUS. The Lincoln Shield Cent reverse, introduced in 2010 as the permanent successor to the 2009 Bicentennial designs, features a union shield with horizontal and vertical lines representing the states united under a single federal government. The designer's initials LB and JFM sit at the base of the design in small lettering, and extra thickness from doubling on these tiny letters demonstrates that hub displacement affected the lower portion of the die. As WDDR-001, this is the first documented Wexler doubled die reverse for the 2014 cent, establishing the baseline catalog entry. The die crack across the shield and multiple die chips near PLURIBUS indicate this die experienced significant structural deterioration during its service life, possibly related to the same stress factors that contributed to the hubbing anomaly.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Chris Freda Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 2014 1¢ WDDR-001
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References