2016 Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-001

Description

Submitted by Jessy Gozum and cataloged by the Wexler Team under Wexler Variety ID 2016-P 25-cent ND WDDR-001, this America the Beautiful Quarter doubled die reverse displays doubling on the grass and shrubs above the head and neck of Teddy Roosevelt's horse in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park design. North Dakota's quarter, released in 2016 as part of the ATB program, depicts a young Roosevelt on horseback surveying the Badlands landscape that would later become the national park bearing his name — a design by Joel Iskowitz and Phebe Hemphill that captured both the rugged terrain and Roosevelt's legendary connection to the North Dakota wilderness. The doubling's location in the grass and shrub area above the horse means it affects landscape detail rather than lettering, making this a variety that requires knowledge of the specific design to locate efficiently. No significant die markers were noted on either the obverse or reverse, which means attribution relies primarily on matching the doubling pattern itself against the Wexler reference images. With no other known cross-references, WDDR-001 represents the first (and potentially sole) documented doubled die reverse for this specific state-date combination. The America the Beautiful program, running from 2010 through 2021, produced five new reverse designs annually across 56 parks and sites, and the constant introduction of new designs meant that each die underwent a fresh hub-to-die transfer process — creating opportunities for hub doubling that would not exist with a static, long-running design. Modern quarters are struck on copper-nickel clad planchets using single-squeeze hubbing presses, and even this refined technology occasionally produces misaligned impressions.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Alfonso Lopez Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 2016-P 25¢ ND WDDR-001
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References