1946-D Doubled Die Reverse DDR-006

Description

Documented by VarietyVista with die identifiers UVC-3071 and DMR-034, this 1946-D Lincoln Wheat Cent DDR-006 exhibits medium extra thickness on E PLURIBUS UNUM, both wheat ears, the stems, and AMERICA — a broad distribution of doubling across multiple reverse design elements indicating a hub displacement that affected a wide swath of the reverse die face. Three die stages track the die's production life: Stage A at early die state (EDS, unconfirmed), Stage B at mid-die-state (MDS, unconfirmed), and Stage C at late die state featuring a die scratch running east-west between the upper portions of NT in CENT and a die scratch under the back of the bust — two diagnostic markers that appear only as the die enters its final service phase. The concentration of extra thickness on both the inscriptions (E PLURIBUS UNUM, AMERICA) and the design elements (wheat ears, stems) demonstrates that the hub offset was sufficient to produce visible doubling across both text and pictorial components of the reverse, suggesting a displacement magnitude large enough to affect elements regardless of their orientation or position on the die. The 1946-D Lincoln Wheat Cent was struck at the Denver Mint in the first full year of post-World War II production, following the return to bronze composition (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc) in 1944 after the wartime steel and shell-case cent experiments. Each coin weighs 3.11 grams with a diameter of 19.05 mm. Victor David Brenner designed the obverse, and the wheat ears reverse was in its thirty-eighth year. The Stage C die scratches on NT of CENT and under the bust provide late-state attribution markers useful for collectors assessing die condition on potential DDR-006 specimens.

Die Markers

• UVC-3071
• DMR-034
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• Die Scratch East-West between upper NT of CENT – LDS
• Die scratch under back of bust – LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by Timothy Wissert
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References