1943 Doubled Die Obverse DDO-023

Description

Twenty-third doubled die obverse for the 1943 Philadelphia Mint Jefferson Nickel, DDO-023 shows a light spread on the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. The 1943 Jefferson Nickel was struck in the wartime silver alloy of 56% copper, 35% silver, and 9% manganese — a composition adopted because nickel was a strategic metal essential for military armor production during World War II. These wartime issues are immediately identifiable by their large mintmark positioned above Monticello's dome on the reverse, with Philadelphia coins bearing a P mintmark for the only time in the denomination's history up to that point. VarietyVista catalogs DDO-023 with die markers UVC-1709 and DMR-098 across three die stages: Early Die State remains unconfirmed, Stage B at Early-to-Mid Die State captures both obverse and reverse, and Late Die State is unconfirmed. The DMR-098 marker number is notably high, indicating that the die used for this variety carries the ninety-eighth distinct die marker combination cataloged by VarietyVista for 1943 Jefferson Nickel obverse dies — a figure that reflects the intensive level of documentation applied to this wartime date. The light spread on IN GOD WE TRUST represents a subtle hub misalignment that requires magnification to confirm, distinguishing true hub doubling from the mechanical doubling and die deterioration effects that can mimic it on circulated specimens. With Philadelphia's 1943 wartime nickel mintage reaching 271,165,000 coins, the production volume was sufficient to consume many die pairs and generate twenty-three or more doubled die obverse varieties across the year's output. Attributed by VarietyVista.

Die Markers

• UVC-1709
• DMR-098
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• Obverse and Reverse are EMDS
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Tony Russo
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References