1938 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-002

Description

Cataloged by the Wexler Team as 1938 1-cent WDDO-002 and cross-referenced as CONECA 3-O-VI, this Lincoln Wheat Cent doubled die obverse displays light extra thickness on LIB of LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST, and the date. The extra-thickness classification indicates minimal hub displacement that thickened the letter strokes rather than producing clearly separated secondary images. The partial-word effect on LIBERTY — where only LIB shows detectable doubling while ERTY remains unaffected — suggests the hub displacement vector's direction and magnitude favored the left portion of the inscription. This variety is notable for having two documented obverse die stages with distinctly different characteristics. Stage A shows very weak remnants of Victor David Brenner's designer initials VDB on the truncation of Lincoln's bust. Stage B reveals that the designer's initials are entirely missing, with a die chip (appearing as a dot) in the area where the V should appear — indicating progressive die deterioration that completely obliterated the fine VDB letters between the two stages. Both reverse stages show no significant die markers, with Stage B noting heavily abraded wheat ears from extended die use. The CONECA 3-O-VI cross-reference identifies this as the third obverse variety in the Class VI (distorted hub) category. The Lincoln Wheat Cent was struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc composition, weighing 3.11 grams at 19.05 mm diameter. The 1938 Philadelphia mintage of approximately 156 million cents represents a moderate production figure for the era. The progressive loss of VDB initials between stages creates an interesting die-state collecting opportunity where Stage A specimens (with faint VDB) and Stage B specimens (without VDB) can be distinguished and collected as a pair documenting the die's deterioration.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Whaden Curtis Cross References: CONECA: 3-O-VI
• CONECA: 3-O-VI; Wexler Variety ID: 1938 1¢ WDDO-002
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References