1963 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-019

Description

Adding to the depth of the 1963 P-mint doubled die obverse catalog, WDDO-019 of the Lincoln Memorial Cent is another variety born from the hubbing process at the Philadelphia Mint, where a misalignment during die manufacture created visible doubling on the obverse design elements. The Philadelphia facility, the original United States Mint in continuous operation since 1792, produced 754,110,000 business-strike cents in 1963, a volume that placed it second only to the Denver Mint's even larger output for the same year. This combined production across both facilities totaled over 2.5 billion cents, reflecting the enormous demand for small change in the American economy during the early 1960s, a period that would soon culminate in the coin shortage crisis of 1965-67. Each working die required multiple hub impressions to receive the full obverse design, and the mechanical tolerances of the hubbing press, while precise by the standards of the era, permitted occasional fractional displacement between impressions. The resulting doubled die varieties span a spectrum from dramatic, eye-visible doubling to subtle displacements detectable only under high magnification. The coin was struck on a 95% copper and 5% zinc planchet without a mint mark. Collectors should approach the attribution of WDDO-019 by systematically examining the date, IN GOD WE TRUST, LIBERTY, and Lincoln's portrait features under magnification, comparing the observed doubling pattern and any visible die surface characteristics against published reference material. Victor David Brenner's obverse and Frank Gasparro's reverse compose the design.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Wexler Team

External References