1943-S Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-021

Description

Attributed by the Wexler Team, this 1943 San Francisco Mint Lincoln Wheat Cent was struck on zinc-coated steel planchets, the emergency wartime composition adopted to conserve copper. Extra eyelids are present just north and just south of the normal eyelid, creating a distinctive tripled-eyelid effect. Debris around the eye prevents full assessment of the area further south of the upper eyelid; as the plate coin is certified, this debris cannot be removed. On the obverse, numerous die scratches run roughly NNW/SSE throughout all fields, with concentric die scratches under the bust. The reverse shows similar NNW/SSE die scratches throughout all fields, a light die crack on the outer wheat kernels on the left wheat, and two heavy die scratches at the rim south of the left wheat. San Francisco struck over 191 million steel cents in 1943, the lowest output of the three mints. The dual extra eyelid placement both north and south of the primary eyelid makes WDDO-021 an unusual doubled die, as most eyelid varieties show displacement in a single direction.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Daniel Griffin Cross References: None known Comments: Debris around the eye prevents full assessment of the area further south of the upper eyelid. As the plate coin is certified, this debris is unable to be removed.
• None known Comments: Debris around the eye prevents full assessment of the area further south of the upper eyelid. As the plate coin is certified, this debris is unable to be removed.; Wexler Variety ID: 1943-S 1¢ WDDO-021
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References