1936 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-021

Description

Lincoln's portrait carries an extra eyelid below the normal eyelid on WDDO-021 for the 1936 wheat cent — a doubling diagnostic that appears on numerous Lincoln cent varieties where the delicate facial detail of Victor David Brenner's design reveals hub misalignment with particular clarity. Philadelphia struck approximately 309.6 million cents in 1936, a substantial Depression-era recovery mintage that drove significant die consumption. The obverse die markers provide precise diagnostics for identification: die scratches running in a west-northwest to east-southeast direction between the R and U in TRUST serve as the primary obverse fingerprint. The reverse carries its own identifying mark — a die scratch running west-northwest from the rim at approximately the 6:00 position, near the bottom of the wheat reverse. These directional die scratches are especially valuable for attribution because they provide geometric reference lines that cannot be confused with random circulation marks. The Wexler Team cataloged this variety under Wexler Variety ID: 1936 1¢ WDDO-021, with no additional cross-references from CONECA or other services currently known. The doubled eyelid mechanism involves a secondary hub impression that displaced the eyelid contour slightly from its primary position — on Lincoln cent obverse dies, the eye area occupies relatively little physical space on the die surface, yet the fine lines of the eyelid, brow, and iris provide enough resolution to betray even minor displacement. Twenty-one documented obverse doubled dies for 1936 alone demonstrates the depth of wheat cent variety research for this mid-1930s date. Collectors should first locate the WNW/ESE die scratches between R and U to confirm the die, then examine the eyelid area at 15-20x magnification for the secondary line below the primary eyelid contour.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Whaden Curtis Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1936 1¢ WDDO-021
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References