1943-D Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-032

Description

Attributed by the Wexler Team as 1943-D 1¢ WDDO-032, this wartime Lincoln Wheat Cent carries a combination variety — the obverse is also a repunched mintmark listed in the Wexler RPM Files as 1943-D 1¢ WRPM-051, a D/D East displacement. Doubling shows at the bottom of the T and Y in LIBERTY and as an extra eyelid east of the normal eyelid on Lincoln's portrait, with light extra thickness on the date. The die marker documentation identifies two short die gouges below the 9 in the date on the obverse, while the reverse exhibits a short die gouge running NE from the lower right of the U in UNITED along with numerous light die scratches running E/W throughout the reverse surface. Cross-referenced as Wexler Variety ID: 1943-D 1¢ WDDO-032. The 1943 Lincoln Cent holds special significance in American numismatics because it was struck in zinc-coated steel rather than the standard bronze composition — a wartime measure to conserve copper for military use. Each coin weighs approximately 2.70 grams with a diameter of 19.05 mm. Victor David Brenner designed the obverse portrait, and the wheat ears reverse served from 1909 through 1958. The convergence of a doubled die obverse and a repunched mintmark on the same working die pair documents two independent manufacturing anomalies — the DDO from the hubbing process and the RPM from the hand-punching of the D mintmark — making this a particularly desirable combination variety. The extra eyelid feature is an especially compelling diagnostic because the fine detail of Lincoln's facial features makes even subtle hub displacement dramatically visible in this anatomically precise area of the portrait.

Attribution History

• s:; Wexler Variety ID: 1943-D 1¢ WDDO-032
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References