1946-D Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-004

Description

Carrying the Wexler designation 1946-D 1c WDDR-004, this Denver Mint Lincoln Wheat Cent displays a Class V clockwise spread pivoting from approximately 6 o'clock, visible on E PLURIBUS (EPU), the dots flanking E PLURIBUS UNUM, and the upper left wheat ear. Class V doubling results from the hub rotating slightly around a fixed pivot point during a secondary impression, producing curved displacement that intensifies with distance from the pivot — elements near the 12 o'clock position, farthest from the 6 o'clock pivot, receive the strongest offset. Obverse die markers include light die scratches running northeast from the top right of the T in LIBERTY, while the reverse carries a short die gouge protruding from the lower right of the first S in STATES and a die scratch running east-northeast from the top of the same letter. The 1946-D Lincoln Cent was struck in shell casing brass, the recycled ammunition cartridge alloy used from 1944 through 1946 as the Mint worked through its wartime copper stockpile before returning to the pre-war bronze composition. The pivoted clockwise mechanism makes WDDR-004 a textbook example of rotational hub displacement on a late-era brass Wheat Cent.

Attribution History

• Discovered by James C. Moreland Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1946-D 1¢ WDDR-004
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References