1945 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-015

Description

Identified as Wexler Variety ID: 1945 1¢ WDDO-015, this doubled die obverse hails from the Philadelphia Mint's enormous 1945 cent production — a run exceeding 1.04 billion pieces. The sheer scale of that output required the Mint to produce and retire working dies at a rapid pace. Each new die began as a blank steel cylinder into which the master hub was pressed, and the multi-impression hubbing technique made slight misalignments an ever-present possibility. When such misalignment occurred, the result was a working die carrying two offset impressions that would mark every coin it produced. The 1945 cent's composition — 95% copper and 5% zinc from recycled military shell casings — continued the alloy that replaced standard bronze during the war years of 1944 through 1946. This shell-case brass is sometimes identifiable by its surface characteristics, though extensive circulation typically obscures such subtleties. WDDO-015 sits within a rich sequence of documented doublings on this date, and its Wexler catalog position reflects the chronological order of discovery rather than any ranking of prominence or value among known varieties.

Attribution History

• Wexler Variety ID: 1945 1¢ WDDO-015
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References