1961 Doubled Die Reverse DDR-007

Description

Seventh reverse doubled die cataloged for the 1961 Washington silver quarter, DDR-007 ranks among the most comprehensively doubled reverse dies known for this date, exhibiting strong spread on both stems with extreme extra thickness on UNITED, the left wing, and QUARTER DOLLAR, plus additional extra thickness on STATES OF AMERICA, the right wing, and E PLURIBUS UNUM — collectively affecting nearly every major reverse design element. Reported by Timothy Wissert, this variety documents a dramatic hub doubling event on the heraldic eagle reverse used on Washington quarters from 1932 through 1998. John Flanagan's obverse Washington portrait paired with the eagle-and-arrows reverse, and Philadelphia struck approximately 37.04 million quarters in 1961 — a 90% silver composition issue from the era before the Coinage Act of 1965 eliminated silver from circulating quarters and dimes. The extreme extra thickness designation on UNITED, the left wing, and QUARTER DOLLAR indicates the most intense doubling, while the strong spread on both stems and the additional extra thickness across the remaining reverse elements demonstrate that the hub displacement affected the entire reverse die with varying intensity. This graduated doubling pattern — extreme in some areas and merely strong or extra-thick in others — is consistent with a hub misalignment that produced maximum displacement in one region while diminishing toward the pivot point. Both olive branch and arrows stems showing strong spread provides symmetrical detection zones at the lower reverse, while the extreme thickness on QUARTER DOLLAR at the base and UNITED at the top brackets the entire reverse field. Collectors should examine this variety under 10-15x magnification, beginning with the UNITED and QUARTER DOLLAR inscriptions where the extreme doubling is most readily apparent.

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