1946-D Doubled Die Obverse DDO-017

Description

Seventeenth in the obverse doubled die census for the 1946-D Roosevelt dime, DDO-017 presents medium spread on LIBERTY accompanied by extra thickness on the date, designer's initials JS, and IN GOD WE TRUST. The medium spread on LIBERTY — the strongest expression of doubling on this die — produces visibly displaced secondary letter images, while the remaining affected areas show extra thickness where the secondary impression thickened the existing design elements without creating fully separated images. John R. Sinnock designed the Roosevelt dime, introduced in 1946 to honor President Franklin D. Roosevelt following his death in April 1945. VarietyVista assigned identifiers UVC-085 and DMR-049, documenting three die stages: Stage A where both obverse and reverse surfaces are at early die state, Stage B at mid die state (unconfirmed), and Stage C where both surfaces have progressed to late die state. Confirmed EDS and LDS specimens establish the full production arc of this die, from early sharpness through advanced wear. Denver struck approximately 61.04 million Roosevelt dimes in 1946, the inaugural year of the series, contributing to robust first-year collector interest. The comment identifies the obverse as ODV-001, the first cataloged obverse design variant for this date — a classification independent of the hub doubling that provides supplementary confirmation by identifying die-specific characteristics such as differences in letter size, position, or style within the design. Medium spread on LIBERTY makes this variety detectable at moderate magnification levels of 10-15x, where the secondary letter images should be visible as displaced shadows adjacent to the primary letters, while the extra thickness on the date and motto may require closer examination to distinguish from normal strike variation.

Die Markers

• UVC-085
• DMR-049
• Stage A:
• Obverse and Reverse are EDS
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• Obverse and Reverse are LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by Timothy Wissert
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References