1937 Doubled Die Obverse DDO-005

Description

Cataloged by VarietyVista with die markers UVC-1374 and DMR-008, the 1937 DDO-005 Lincoln Wheat Cent shows medium spread on GOD WE TRUST and light spread on 937 of the date, accompanied by light extra thickness on LIBERTY — a graduated intensity pattern where the doubling is strongest at the motto and diminishes toward the date and portrait inscription. Three die stages are documented: Stage A at early die state (unconfirmed), Stage B at mid-die-state (unconfirmed), and Stage C at late die state with a die crack across the lower bust line and reverse at late die state. The progression from no visible die deterioration in Stages A and B to a bust-line die crack in Stage C traces the typical lifecycle of a working die under production stress. The 1937 Lincoln Wheat Cent was struck in bronze composition (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc) weighing 3.11 grams at 19 mm diameter with a plain edge. The 1937 Philadelphia mintage of 309,170,000 represented a significant recovery from the Depression-era production lows of the early 1930s, when cent production had dropped to historic minimums. Victor David Brenner's Lincoln portrait on the obverse positions IN GOD WE TRUST above the head, where the curved arrangement of the motto letters provides sensitive detection surfaces for spread-type doubling, while LIBERTY runs vertically along the right side of the portrait.

Die Markers

• UVC-1374
• DMR-008
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• Die crack across lower bust line – LDS
• Reverse is LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by James Wiles
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References