1956-D Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-041

Description

Forty-first in the Wexler-documented obverse doubled die census for the 1956-D Lincoln wheat cent, WDDO-041 exhibits an extra eyelid showing southeast of the main eyelid on Lincoln's portrait — a doubling diagnostic that occurs when the secondary hub impression displaces the delicate eyelid detail on Victor David Brenner's sculpted presidential portrait. The Wexler Team cataloged this variety under Wexler Variety ID: 1956-D 1¢ WDDO-041, with no additional cross-references currently known. Obverse die markers include a short die gouge running southwest from the underside of Lincoln's nose, while the reverse carries a horizontal die scratch present above NIT in UNITED. These die-specific diagnostics allow collectors to confirm the correct die pair before evaluating the doubled eyelid feature. Denver struck approximately 1.10 billion cents in 1956, a substantial output in the wheat cent series' penultimate full year before the transition to the Lincoln Memorial reverse in 1959. The high WDDO number — 041 — reflects the deep research that has been conducted on 1956-D cent dies, with the Denver facility's enormous production generating dozens of documented doubled die varieties across hundreds of working die pairs. The doubled eyelid diagnostic is particularly accessible because the human eye naturally focuses on facial features when examining portraits, making eyelid doubling one of the most visually intuitive doubled die indicators even for beginning collectors. Examination should focus on Lincoln's eye area under 10-15x magnification, looking for a distinct secondary eyelid contour displaced southeast of the primary, then confirming the die gouge below the nose and the horizontal scratch above NIT on the reverse.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Karen Peterson Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1956-D 1¢ WDDO-041
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References