1963-D Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-044

Description

Occupying the forty-fourth position in the 1963-D Doubled Die Obverse sequence, WDDO-044 was attributed by the Wexler Team and carries the Wexler Variety ID 1963-D 1c WDDO-044. No additional cross-references are currently known. The steady accumulation of DDO varieties for the 1963-D Lincoln Memorial Cent reflects a fundamental principle of die-variety numismatics: the more coins produced from a given date, the more working dies are consumed, and the more opportunities exist for the subtle hubbing misalignments that create doubled die varieties. Denver's 1963 production total of 1,774,020,400 cents ranks among the highest annual outputs for any denomination at any mint facility, and the die attrition rate required to sustain that volume was correspondingly immense. Each working die had a finite service life — determined by the hardness of the die steel, the striking pressure, and the condition of the press — and when a die was retired, its replacement came from the same hubbing process that had produced the original, carrying whatever alignment characteristics the hub and die blank happened to exhibit during their encounter. Collectors approaching WDDO-044 should be aware that higher-numbered varieties in a long catalog series are not inherently less valuable or less interesting than early entries; the numbering reflects discovery order rather than rarity or desirability. A focused examination of the obverse under at least 7x magnification, with particular attention to the date, motto, and LIBERTY, is the standard approach to screening candidates.

Attribution History

• Discovered by David Mulberry Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1963-D 1¢ WDDO-044
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References