1943 Doubled Die Obverse DDO-016

Description

Documented by VarietyVista with die identification UVC-0302 and DMR-017, this 1943 Washington Silver Quarter DDO-016 presents medium spread on LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST, with light spread on the date and designer's initials (JF for John Flanagan) — a graduated doubling pattern where the strongest hub displacement effects appear on the inscriptions across the upper obverse and diminish on the lower design elements. Three die stages are documented: Stage A at early die state (EDS), unconfirmed; Stage B at mid-die-state (MDS), unconfirmed; and Stage C at late die state (LDS) with a die crack running across the bust and a die crack from the eagle's right wing to the Q of QUARTER on the reverse. The Stage C die crack across Washington's bust represents a major structural failure traversing the obverse's most prominent design element, while the reverse crack connecting the eagle's wing to the QUARTER inscription documents a corresponding failure path on the reverse die — together indicating both dies were near end-of-life when Stage C specimens were struck. The 1943 Washington Silver Quarter was struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 90% silver composition weighing 6.25 grams with a 24.26 mm diameter during World War II, when the Mint balanced military production demands with civilian coinage needs. John Flanagan designed the Washington portrait obverse based on Jean-Antoine Houdon's bust, and the heraldic eagle reverse with laurel and olive branches served from 1932 through 1998. The medium-strength doubling on LIBERTY makes this a variety that can be detected by experienced collectors during visual examination of coins in hand, without requiring high magnification. The sixteenth DDO for 1943 demonstrates the variety population that the Philadelphia Mint's wartime production generated.

Die Markers

• UVC-0302
• DMR-017
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• Die crack across bust – LDS
• Die crack eagle's Right wing to Q of QUARTER – LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by Lee Hiemke
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References