1925 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-003

Description

Third in the Wexler obverse doubled die census for the 1925 Lincoln wheat cent, WDDO-003 manifests as an extra eyelid visible below Lincoln's main eyelid — a doubling diagnostic that exploits the portrait's most anatomically precise feature to reveal hub displacement invisible elsewhere on the die. Victor David Brenner's sculpted eyelid, a curved line of minimal width that defines the upper boundary of Lincoln's eye, registers even fractional hub displacement as a visible secondary curve because the feature's narrow geometry amplifies the visual separation between primary and secondary impressions. Philadelphia struck approximately 139.9 million cents in 1925, a mid-decade mintage during the prosperous Coolidge era that preceded the 1929 crash. The obverse carries diagnostic die scratches near the rim above GOD WE — incidental die surface defects that serve as a fingerprint for identifying this specific working die independent of the doubled eyelid. The reverse shows corresponding die scratches to the left of the N in ONE, providing a second authentication marker on the opposite face. The Wexler Variety ID 1925 1¢ WDDO-003 formally catalogs this variety, with no additional cross-references from other attribution systems currently known. The doubled eyelid diagnostic is particularly compelling because it requires only moderate magnification to confirm — the human visual system naturally focuses on eyes and facial features, making a doubled eyelid one of the most intuitively recognizable doubling types on Lincoln cent varieties. Collectors should first check for the die scratches above GOD WE on the obverse and left of N on the reverse to verify the correct die pair, then examine Lincoln's eye area under 10-15x magnification for the secondary eyelid curve positioned below and slightly displaced from the primary eyelid contour. Comparison against a confirmed normal 1925 cent from a different die will highlight the anomaly.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Dr. Daniel Griffin Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1925 1¢ WDDO-003
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References