1945 Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-001

Description

Carrying the primary reverse doubled die designation for the 1945 Washington silver quarter, WDDR-001 presents a very close spread towards the center on QUARTER DOLLAR and the ends of the branches on John Flanagan's heraldic eagle reverse. The "towards center" directional spread indicates the secondary hub impression compressed slightly inward from the primary, producing a subtle thickening of the affected design elements rather than a dramatic outward displacement. The Wexler Team documented obverse die markers including parallel die scratches running southwest from the lower left of the L in LIBERTY, while the reverse shows no significant markers beyond the doubling itself. Philadelphia struck approximately 12.34 million Washington quarters in 1945, a wartime production year when the 90% silver composition continued despite material pressures from the ongoing conflict. The very close spread classification places WDDR-001 at the subtle end of the doubling spectrum, where the primary and secondary images nearly overlap and the diagnostic manifests as thickened letter strokes and slightly broadened branch ends rather than clearly separated doubled images. The Wexler Variety ID: 1945 25¢ WDDR-001 serves as the formal catalog reference, with no additional cross-references from CONECA or other attribution systems currently known. Collectors must exercise particular care when evaluating this variety, as the very close spread can be confused with strike doubling or die deterioration effects — the parallel die scratches southwest from the L in LIBERTY provide the essential secondary diagnostic for confirming the correct die before attempting to evaluate the subtle reverse doubling under 20x or greater magnification.

Attribution History

• Discovered by John A. Wexler Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1945 25¢ WDDR-001
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References