2018 VDDR VDDR-003

Description

Cataloged by VarietyVista, VDDR-003 on the 2018 Jefferson Nickel presents light spread directed East, producing an extra top left central doorway side on the Monticello building. The eastward spread indicates the secondary hub impression shifted to the right relative to the primary, creating a lateral displacement of the architectural elements along the left side of Monticello's central doorway. Three die stages track the working die's progressive deterioration: Stage A is early die state (EDS, unconfirmed), Stage B is mid-die-state (MDS, unconfirmed), and Stage C shows numerous small die chips around the C of MONTICELLO at late die state (LDS) with the obverse also in LDS. The Stage C marker is particularly distinctive — the cluster of small die chips surrounding a single letter (C of MONTICELLO) represents a specific pattern of localized die deterioration that provides a strong confirmation diagnostic for specimens from the latest production runs of this die. The light spread classification means the doubling requires careful examination under magnification, with the extra doorway side best observed using 10x magnification and raking light that highlights the dimensional separation between primary and secondary images on the architectural detail. The 2018 Jefferson Nickel was struck at the Philadelphia Mint in copper-nickel composition (75% copper, 25% nickel, 5.000 grams, 21.2 mm). The Return to Monticello series (2006 to date) maintains Felix Schlag's original Monticello rendering where the central doorway and surrounding facade elements continue to yield new doubled die discoveries as the VarietyVista cataloging effort expands with each year's production.

Die Markers

• UVC-????
• DMR-00?
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• Numerous small die chips around C of MONTICELLO – LDS
• Obverse is LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by Robert Umbarger
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References