1955-D Doubled Die Reverse DDR-005

Description

Fifth reverse doubled die cataloged for the 1955-D Jefferson nickel, DDR-005 displays very light spread confined to AMERICA in the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA on Felix Schlag's Monticello reverse. VarietyVista documented this die under UVC-402 and DMR-003, with three die stages: Stage A featuring a die scratch through the lower URI of PLURIBUS at early die state with the obverse also at EDS, Stage B at mid die state (unconfirmed), and Stage C at late die state (unconfirmed). The die scratch through URI of PLURIBUS in Stage A provides a critical secondary diagnostic, as it confirms both the correct die and the die state — the scratch's presence at EDS means it was part of the die from the beginning of its service life, likely acquired during die preparation or initial press setup. A significant cross-listing accompanies this variety: the reverse die is also cataloged as RPM-002, indicating this same die carries a repunched mintmark (D/D) in addition to the doubled die reverse characteristic. This dual attribution — DDR-005 combined with RPM-002 on the same reverse die — makes the die marriage particularly interesting to variety collectors who can document two independent die preparation anomalies on a single coin. Denver struck approximately 74.46 million nickels in 1955, a moderate mintage that falls within the typical range for Denver Jefferson nickel production during the 1950s. The very light spread confined solely to AMERICA places this among the subtler varieties in the 1955-D DDR census, requiring careful examination at 15-20x magnification to detect the displacement on the individual letter contours. Collectors should verify the RPM-002 repunched mintmark as an additional confirmation point after locating the DDR-005 doubling on AMERICA.

Die Markers

• UVC-402
• DMR-003
• Stage A:
• Die scratch through lower URI of PLURIBUS – EDS
• Obverse is EDS
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by James Wiles
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References