1945-S Doubled Die Obverse DDO-005

Description

Fifth in the obverse doubled die census for the 1945-S Lincoln wheat cent, DDO-005 presents light spread in a southward direction manifesting as an extra eyelid below Lincoln's normal eyelid on Victor David Brenner's portrait. VarietyVista documented this variety under UVC-2926 and DMR-038, with three die stages providing a particularly informative progression: Stage A at early die state (unconfirmed), Stage B where die scratches running north-south appear on both obverse and reverse surfaces at mid die state, and Stage C where those die scratches on both sides have worn away by late die state. This scratches-present-then-worn-away progression provides collectors with a useful die state discrimination tool — specimens showing the N-S scratches are mid-state, while those lacking them are either early (pre-scratch) or late (scratches worn away). San Francisco struck approximately 181.77 million Lincoln cents in 1945, the final year of World War II. The comments identify the mintmark as MMS-006 (ball serif), indicating the S mintmark exhibits a specific misplaced mintmark characteristic where the serif terminates in a ball-shaped formation — a secondary attributable feature beyond the doubled die obverse classification. The doubled eyelid diagnostic is a recurring theme among Lincoln cent hub-doubled obverse dies, where the carefully sculpted facial detail of Brenner's portrait reveals even minimal southward displacement as a secondary eyelid contour below the primary line. The high DMR number (038) indicates this is deeply positioned within VarietyVista's die marriage registry for the 1945-S date, reflecting extensive variety documentation for this wartime issue. Collectors should examine Lincoln's eye area under 10-15x magnification for the extra eyelid, then check the mintmark for the ball serif characteristic and the coin's surfaces for the presence or absence of the N-S die scratches to determine die state.

Die Markers

• UVC-2926
• DMR-038
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• Die scratches North-South on Obverse and Reverse – MDS
• Stage C:
• Die scratches on both sides worn away – LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by Brian Ribar
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References