2017 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-005

Description

Moderate extra thickness appears on the letters of LIBERTY — with the upper left arm of the Y considerably thicker than the upper right — along with similar thickening on the date digits, on this 2017 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Shield Cent. The Wexler Team attributed this variety under Wexler Variety ID 2017-P 1c WDDO-005, noting that no cross-references to other attribution systems are currently known. Obverse die markers assist with confirmation: light die scratches run southeast from the underside of the back of Lincoln's chin and from the front of his throat, while the reverse shows no significant identifying marks. The asymmetric thickening pattern — where one side of a letter appears heavier than the other — is characteristic of a slight offset or rotational displacement during the hubbing process, where the hub did not align perfectly with its prior impression on the die blank. The Lincoln Shield Cent, introduced in 2010 with Lyndall Bass's Union Shield reverse, continues Victor David Brenner's iconic 1909 Lincoln portrait on the obverse. Philadelphia Mint production of Shield Cents in 2017 exceeded several billion pieces, and the immense volume of die pairs consumed annually means that hub alignment anomalies, while uncommon relative to total output, produce a steady stream of new doubled die discoveries each year. The extra thickness on the Y of LIBERTY serves as the quickest visual diagnostic for cherry-picking WDDO-005 from circulating change.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Christopher Rhodes Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 2017-P 1¢ WDDO-005
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References