1956 Doubled Die Obverse DDO-001

Description

One of the most significant Franklin Half Dollar doubled dies, DDO-001 on the 1956 Philadelphia issue exhibits strong spread across three major obverse design elements: the date, IN GOD WE TRUST, and LIBERTY. Strong spread on three separate areas indicates a substantial hub misalignment during die manufacture, producing clearly visible secondary images that make this variety accessible to collectors at relatively low magnification. Ed Raser reported this variety, and the reverse has been identified as die variety RDV-002, providing a die-pairing reference for complete attribution. John R. Sinnock's Franklin Half Dollar obverse positions Benjamin Franklin's portrait centrally, with LIBERTY arched above, IN GOD WE TRUST below the chin, and the date at lower right — the strong spread affecting all three zones implies a displacement magnitude large enough to reach design elements spaced widely across the die face. The 1956 half dollar was struck in 90% silver at 12.5 grams. As DDO-001 with strong tripled-area doubling, this variety holds the leading catalog position for the date and ranks among the more visually impressive Franklin Half Dollar doubled dies across the entire series.

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