1945 Lincoln Wheat Cent - Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-010

Description

Wexler Variety ID: 1945 1¢ WDDO-010 represents a doubled die obverse struck at Philadelphia during the final year of World War II. The enormous mintage of over 1.04 billion cents required hundreds of working dies, and the hub-to-die transfer process — a multi-impression procedure — occasionally produced misalignment between successive applications. That mechanical variance creates doubled dies: a secondary, offset image captured in the die face and transferred to every cent struck from it. The 1945 cent's composition of 95% copper and 5% zinc, drawn from recycled brass shell casings, continued the wartime formula adopted in 1944 after the widely disliked 1943 steel cents. This shell-case alloy strikes somewhat differently than standard bronze, potentially influencing how clearly doubling manifests. Die variety specialists have documented dozens of DDO varieties across the mid-1940s Wheat cent dates, reflecting the thoroughness with which researchers have combed this high-mintage era. Each new WDDO number deepens our understanding of Philadelphia Mint die production during a period when industrial capacity was stretched between military and civilian needs.

Cross References

• Wexler Variety ID: 1945 1¢ WDDO-010

External References