1945 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-022

Description

The attribution Wexler Variety ID: 1945 1¢ WDDO-022 identifies a doubled die obverse from the 1945 Philadelphia cent, struck from shell-case brass during the final year of World War II. With a mintage surpassing one billion, the 1945 cent is far from scarce, yet individual die varieties exist in far smaller quantities — each was produced by a single die pair whose working life was measured in tens of thousands of impressions. This scarcity-within-abundance is what makes die variety collecting compelling: a common date becomes uncommon once a specific die's fingerprint is identified. The shell-case composition of 95% copper and 5% zinc links these coins to the recycling of military brass. Brenner's Lincoln obverse, introduced in 1909 to mark the centennial of Lincoln's birth, had become a fixture of daily life by 1945. The hub doubling preserved in WDDO-022 reflects a specific moment in the die shop when the master hub and working die were not perfectly aligned during impression. Locating this variety in circulation-grade coins rewards the dedicated searcher who applies systematic examination to high-volume dates.

Attribution History

• Wexler Variety ID: 1945 1¢ WDDO-022
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References