1909 Lincoln Wheat Cent - Doubled Die Reverse VDDR-060

Description

Sixtieth in the VarietyVista doubled die reverse catalog for the inaugural 1909 Lincoln Wheat Cent, this variety mirrors the doubling pattern of its close relative VDDR-072, showing light spread on the letters TE of UNITED, F of OF, TA of STATES, and M of AMERICA. What distinguishes VDDR-060 from VDDR-072 is the die stage progression: Stage B on this die shows a die crack from the upper left wheat lines to the rim at mid-die state, with the obverse also at MDS — a different crack pattern from the north-south crack behind the bust documented on VDDR-072. Documented under pending codes UVC-???? and DMR-0??, the die moved through three stages from early (unconfirmed) through mid to late die state (unconfirmed). The reverse die is identified as either RDV-004 (deep cut N, no V.D.B.) or RDV-003 (shallow cut N, no V.D.B.), confirming this die was prepared after Brenner's initials were removed from the reverse in August 1909 following public controversy. The 1909 Lincoln Cent debuted as the first U.S. circulating coin to bear the portrait of an actual historical figure, and the Philadelphia Mint's production demands for launching this new design generated an extraordinary number of die varieties — sixty documented doubled die reverses attests to the volume of die pairs required and the intense collector scrutiny this key inaugural date has received. The light spread across multiple reverse legend elements indicates subtle hub displacement that consistently affected the same letters across different die pairs.

Die Markers

• UVC-????
• DMR-0??
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• Die crack from upper Left wheat lines to rim – MDS
• Obverse is MDS
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

External References