1942-D Doubled Die Obverse DDO-005

Description

Fifth doubled die obverse for the 1942-D Washington Silver Quarter, DDO-005 presents medium extra thickness on LIBERTY — a variety that manifests as noticeably bolder lettering compared to a normal single-impression coin. The 1942-D Washington Quarter was struck at the Denver Mint during the first full year of American involvement in World War II, with a mintage of 17,487,200 coins in the standard 90% silver, 10% copper composition. Unlike the nickels and cents that underwent composition changes during wartime, the quarter maintained its silver alloy throughout the conflict, though production priorities shifted and mintages fluctuated based on the wartime economy's evolving coinage needs. VarietyVista catalogs DDO-005 with die markers UVC-0256 and DMR-007 across three stages: Early Die State remains unconfirmed, Stage B at Mid Die State captures both obverse and reverse, and Late Die State is unconfirmed. Medium extra thickness on LIBERTY indicates that the hub misalignment during die preparation was sufficient to create a visible doubling of the letter strokes without the wide separation that characterizes stronger doubled dies — the second hubbing impression reinforced the letter outlines rather than creating clearly displaced ghost images. This type of doubling is particularly effective on the word LIBERTY because John Flanagan's design places these letters in relatively high relief across the upper obverse, where even modest hub displacement creates measurable changes in letter thickness. Five documented DDO varieties for the 1942-D date reflects a moderate level of hub doubling incidence, consistent with the date's moderate mintage. Attributed by VarietyVista.

Die Markers

• UVC-0256
• DMR-007
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• Obverse and Reverse are MDS
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Lee Hiemke
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References