1949-D Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-002

Description

Second in the obverse doubled die census for the 1949-D Lincoln wheat cent, WDDO-002 manifests as an extra eyelid southeast of Lincoln's normal eyelid on Victor David Brenner's portrait. A die crack running across the base of the bust above the designer's initials VDB provides the primary obverse die marker for attribution confirmation, while no reverse markers were recorded. The Wexler Team assigned this Wexler Variety ID: 1949-D 1¢ WDDO-002, with no other known cross-references. Denver produced approximately 153.1 million wheat cents in 1949, maintaining substantial output as the post-war economy generated heavy demand for small denomination coinage. Extra eyelid doubled dies represent one of the most collected subcategories of Lincoln cent varieties — the facial detail on Brenner's portrait is fine enough that even small hub displacements create a visibly doubled eyelid, and the human eye naturally focuses on facial features when examining coins, making these varieties intuitively accessible to collectors. The southeast direction of the extra eyelid indicates the secondary hub impression shifted the portrait slightly down and to the right relative to the primary impression, positioning the doubled eyelid below and rightward of the normal one. The die crack across the bust base serves as a particularly strong diagnostic marker, as cracks are unique to individual working dies and develop progressively during the die's service life. Collectors should examine the eyelid area under at least 10x magnification while using oblique lighting to cast shadows that highlight the secondary eyelid ridge against Lincoln's profile.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Brian Ribar Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1949-D 1¢ WDDO-002
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References