1940-S Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-002

Description

The 1940-S Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-002 is a Class II Distorted Hub Doubling variety of the 1940 San Francisco Jefferson Nickel. Class II doubling results from a pivoting or rocking motion of the hub during successive impressions in die manufacture, producing a distorted rather than cleanly offset secondary image. On WDDR-002, the doubling manifests on the reverse as extra thickness on the letters of UNUM within E PLURIBUS UNUM, and on the denomination CENTS — areas where the slightly misaligned secondary hub impression overlapped closely enough with the primary to produce visible letter widening or doubling. The die pair carrying WDDR-002 is accompanied by two obverse die markers and two reverse die markers that provide reliable attribution confirmation: on the obverse, a die crack runs across the top of Jefferson's head, and die scratches appear at the upper back of his head; on the reverse, die scratches are present in and above the left arch of Monticello, and an additional die scratch runs below the M of MONTICELLO. The structured die marker information for this variety is well documented, making coin-in-hand attribution straightforward for collectors equipped with a loupe and a reference image. The 1940-S Jefferson Nickel is a wartime-adjacent date with strong series representation, and WDDR-002 is among the earlier-numbered and therefore more prominently catalogued reverse doubled dies for this date.

Die Markers

• Obverse: Die crack at top of Jefferson's head; die scratches at upper back of his head.
• Reverse: Die scratches in and above left arch; die scratch below M of MONTICELLO.

External References