1948-D Doubled Die Obverse DDO-002

Description

Positioned as DDO-002 for the 1948-D Lincoln wheat cent, this variety exhibits light spread on LIBERTY and IN — two inscription elements positioned on opposite sides of Victor David Brenner's Lincoln portrait that provide a geographically distributed diagnostic. VarietyVista documented this variety under UVC-1768 and DMR-009, with three die stages tracked: Stage A at early die state (unconfirmed), Stage B at mid die state (unconfirmed), and Stage C where both obverse and reverse surfaces have reached late die state (confirmed). The LDS confirmation for Stage C means that documented specimens exist showing advanced die wear characteristics, indicating this die remained in service long enough to produce coins across the full die state spectrum. VarietyVista noted that a specimen is needed for new color photographs and die stage documentation, signaling that the variety's existing reference imagery may be insufficient for confident attribution by collectors consulting the online catalog. Denver struck approximately 317.6 million Lincoln wheat cents in 1948, a post-war production year when the Mint was operating at full peacetime capacity after the disruptions of the war years. The wheat cent design was entering its final decade — Frank Gasparro's Lincoln Memorial reverse would replace the wheat ears in 1959. Light spread on LIBERTY (left side of the obverse) and IN (right side, beginning the motto IN GOD WE TRUST) indicates the hub misalignment produced detectable displacement across the full width of the obverse die face, though at a magnitude that requires careful examination under 15x or greater magnification to confirm. Collectors who locate a strong specimen of DDO-002 are encouraged to submit photographs to VarietyVista to support the variety's documentation with updated reference imagery.

Die Markers

• UVC-1768
• DMR-009
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• Obverse and Reverse are LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by Harry Ellis
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References