1944-S Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-009

Description

At the ninth position in the 1944-S DDO catalog, WDDO-009 is attributed by the Wexler Team under cross-reference Wexler Variety ID: 1944-S 1¢ WDDO-009. Nine DDO varieties — part of an eighteen-plus total for the date — mark the 1944-S as one of the most prolific sources of obverse hub doubling among all wartime Lincoln Wheat cent issues. San Francisco's 1944 production of over 282 million cents on recycled shell-case brass planchets required continuous die replacement, and each new die was created through the multi-impression hubbing process that generated these varieties. WDDO-009 falls precisely at the midpoint of the total known DDO sequence for the date, occupying a position where variety researchers have typically documented genuine but not necessarily dramatic doubling events. The practical challenge for collectors is threefold: first, locating a 1944-S cent that exhibits true hub doubling rather than the more common machine doubling; second, confirming that the doubling pattern matches WDDO-009 specifically rather than one of the eight varieties cataloged before it or the nine documented after it; and third, finding a specimen in collectible condition, as many wartime cents circulated extensively through the postwar economy. The Wexler reference collection provides the definitive comparison standard for resolving these attribution questions.

Attribution History

• Wexler Variety ID: 1944-S 1¢ WDDO-009
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References