1926 Doubled Die Obverse DDO-001

Description

First and primary doubled die obverse for the 1926 Buffalo Nickel, this variety is cataloged by VarietyVista under UVC-071 and DMR-002, exhibiting light extra thickness on the date and light separation on LIBERTY — the word that appears incuse (recessed) on the Buffalo Nickel, set into the shoulder of the Native American portrait. The die progressed through three stages: Stage A with both obverse and reverse in early die state, Stage B in mid-die state (unconfirmed), and Stage C in late die state (unconfirmed). James Earle Fraser's Buffalo Nickel design, produced from 1913 to 1938, presents unique challenges for doubled die detection because LIBERTY appears as an incuse inscription on the portrait's shoulder rather than raised lettering, meaning doubling manifests as widened or shifted depressions rather than the secondary raised images seen on conventional raised-letter designs. The 1926 Philadelphia Mint struck approximately 44.7 million Buffalo Nickels during the Roaring Twenties, a period of economic prosperity that supported robust coinage production. Light extra thickness on the date indicates the hub displacement was subtle, requiring careful examination under magnification to confirm. As DDO-001, this is the primary doubled die obverse listing for the date, and its UVC-071 code and DMR-002 die marker reference provide the tracking identifiers that connect this entry to the broader VarietyVista database of documented die varieties across all denominations.

Die Markers

• UVC-071
• DMR-002
• Stage A:
• Obverse and Reverse are EDS
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Lewis Fletcher
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References