1939 Lincoln Wheat Cent - Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-006

Description

On the eve of global conflict in 1939, the Philadelphia Mint continued its massive output of Lincoln Wheat Cents, and among the working reverse dies prepared that year, at least six received hub impressions with detectable displacement. WDDR-006, the sixth cataloged doubled die reverse for the date, preserves the telltale secondary impression that results when a hub strikes a die with slight misalignment during die preparation. The wheat ears flanking the central reverse inscription provide particularly sensitive indicators of hub doubling, as their fine parallel lines amplify even minor displacement into visible spread or extra thickness. Lincoln Cent production in 1939 exceeded 316 million pieces at Philadelphia alone, the final full year of peacetime manufacturing before wartime demands reshaped Mint priorities and forced the emergency switch to zinc-coated steel planchets in 1943. The Wexler Team's documentation contributes to the broader catalog of pre-war Wheat Cent varieties that collectors pursue as examples of depression-era die production, when each working die was crafted through hubbing processes that inevitably introduced minor variations.

Cross References

• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1939 1¢ WDDR-006

External References