1963-D Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-016

Description

Completing the second block of five sequentially numbered Doubled Die Obverse varieties for the 1963-D Lincoln Memorial Cent, WDDO-016 is attributed by the Wexler Team under the Wexler Variety ID 1963-D 1c WDDO-016. The variety emerged from the same industrial environment that produced all of the 1963-D WDDO entries: a Denver Mint die shop running at capacity to supply the dies needed for a production run of 1,774,020,400 cents. At that scale, even a very low per-die probability of hubbing misalignment translates into a meaningful absolute number of doubled die working dies, and the comprehensive survey work of attributors over the decades since has steadily expanded the catalog. What remains unknown for many of these varieties — including WDDO-016, for which no additional cross-references beyond the Wexler catalog are currently recorded — is the total number of coins each die produced before being retired. That figure determines the maximum possible population of a given variety and, combined with the survival rate, defines its true rarity. Collectors should examine all primary obverse design elements under magnification, comparing the doubling pattern and die marker details against published attribution data to distinguish WDDO-016 from its neighbors in the sequence. The coin was struck on a planchet of 95% copper and 5% zinc, carrying Brenner's familiar obverse portrait of Lincoln and Gasparro's Memorial reverse — a design pairing that would continue for another four and a half decades until the reverse was replaced in 2009.

Attribution History

• Wexler Variety ID: 1963-D 1¢ WDDO-016
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References