1936 Doubled Die Reverse DDR-005

Description

Fifth in the reverse doubled die census for the 1936 Lincoln wheat cent, DDR-005 exhibits strong extra thickness across a comprehensive range of reverse design elements: E PLURIBUS UNUM, both wheat ears and stems, AMERICA, and STATES. The breadth of affected elements — spanning the upper motto, the central wheat devices, and the peripheral nation name — indicates a wholesale hub misalignment that displaced the secondary impression across virtually the entire reverse die face. VarietyVista assigned identifiers UVC-1352 and DMR-019, documenting three die stages: Stage A at early die state (unconfirmed), Stage B at mid die state (unconfirmed), and Stage C where the reverse is at late die state and the obverse shows a broken R in LIBERTY at LDS. The broken R in LIBERTY at Stage C provides a distinctive late-stage diagnostic that both confirms the die identity and documents the progressive deterioration of the paired obverse die. The additional comment "Broken R in LIBERTY" emphasizes this diagnostic feature. Philadelphia struck approximately 309.6 million cents in 1936, a Depression-era production that nonetheless consumed numerous die pairs. The strong extra thickness classification — indicating pronounced broadening of design elements rather than clearly separated doubled images — is consistent with Class VI (Distorted Hub) doubling where the hub deforms rather than pivots between impressions. Victor David Brenner's wheat ear design provides particularly effective surfaces for detecting extra thickness because the fine parallel lines of the wheat barbs appear perceptibly widened when the Class VI effect is present, making the wheat ears among the first elements where collectors can confirm the DDR diagnosis under 10-15x magnification. The concurrent presence of strong extra thickness across inscriptions, devices, and stems makes DDR-005 one of the more comprehensively doubled reverses in the 1936 census.

Die Markers

• UVC-1352
• DMR-019
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• Reverse is LDS
• Obverse has a broken R in LIBERTY – LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by James Wiles
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References