1955 Doubled Die Reverse DDR-005

Description

Fifth reverse doubled die cataloged for the 1955 Washington silver quarter proof, DDR-005 displays medium extra thickness on UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, E PLURIBUS UNUM, and the eagle's plume on John Flanagan's heraldic eagle reverse. VarietyVista assigned identifiers UVC-0854 and DMR-009, documenting three die stages: Stage A at early die state (unconfirmed), Stage B at mid die state (unconfirmed), and Stage C featuring a distinctive vertical die gouge on the shafts behind the arrow points at late die state with the obverse also at LDS. The Stage C die gouge provides a valuable late-state diagnostic — its position on the arrow shafts behind the points places it in a high-detail area where the incuse feature in the die would be clearly visible as a raised line on struck coins. The proof designation indicates this die was used in San Francisco's proof coin production, where polished dies and carefully prepared planchets created coins with mirror-like fields and frosted design elements. The 1955 proof set mintage was approximately 378,200, a small fraction of the business strike production and one that used dedicated proof dies manufactured to higher standards than circulation strike dies. The extra thickness classification for the doubling — rather than spread or separation — indicates the hub displacement was extremely close, producing broadened letter and design strokes that appear heavier than normal rather than showing distinctly separated secondary images. The ODV-002/RDV-002 notation distinguishes the specific obverse and reverse design variants employed on this die pair. Examination requires careful attention to the eagle's plume detail at 15-20x magnification, where the feather barbs' fine lines most clearly reveal the thickened impression that characterizes medium extra thickness doubling.

Die Markers

• UVC-0854
• DMR-009
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• Vertical die gouge on shafts behind arrow points – LDS
• Obverse is LDS

Attribution History

• Discovered by Delma K. Romines
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References