1946 (S) Lincoln Wheat Cent - Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-013

Description

Thirteenth in the sequence of 1946-S DDO wheat cent varieties, WDDO-013 extends the documented hub doubling record for the first post-war San Francisco cent issue. The Wexler Team cataloged this die as Wexler Variety ID: 1946-S 1¢ WDDO-013, establishing its identity through comparative die study analysis. San Francisco's 1946 cent production of 198,100,000 pieces was still struck in the wartime shell-case alloy. Thirteen DDO varieties for the 1946-S date represents a substantial catalog for a post-war issue, suggesting that die preparation quality at the Philadelphia die shop — where all working dies were manufactured — did not immediately improve upon the cessation of wartime production urgency. WDDO-013, at its catalog position, was documented after twelve more prominent varieties had been identified, placing its doubling visibility in the moderate-to-subtle range that typically characterizes higher-numbered entries. The 1946-S date holds transitional significance in the wheat cent series: it was the last S-mint cent in the shell-case alloy and one of the final decade of S-mint wheat cent production before San Francisco halted cent coinage after 1955. Attribution of WDDO-013 requires distinguishing its specific spread direction and affected design elements from the twelve preceding entries, a process best accomplished through systematic comparison against published Wexler reference images and die marker descriptions.

Cross References

• Wexler Variety ID: 1946-S 1¢ WDDO-013

External References