1963 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-027

Description

The twenty-seventh doubled die obverse variety documented for the 1963 P-mint Lincoln Memorial Cent, WDDO-027 further populates a DDO catalog that ranks among the more extensively mapped in the Lincoln Memorial series. Hub doubling on Lincoln cents can manifest in several characteristic patterns: rotational spreads that arc across the legends, translational shifts that displace the entire design in one direction, and pivot spreads that show increasing displacement away from a central axis. The specific pattern exhibited by any given variety depends on the exact nature of the misalignment between hub and die during the impression that produced it. For WDDO-027, as with other varieties lacking published die marker details, the collector's attribution process centers on identifying the type, direction, and magnitude of the doubling across the obverse design and comparing these observations against known specimens. The Philadelphia Mint's 1963 production of 754,110,000 business-strike cents demanded continuous die production and replacement throughout the year, and the resulting working die population provided the statistical foundation for the many DDO varieties now on record. The coin was struck on a 95% copper and 5% zinc planchet without a mint mark, consistent with Philadelphia circulation-strike conventions. The year 1963 was the second-to-last before Congress addressed the national coin shortage by eliminating mint marks and suspending proof production from 1965 through 1967. Brenner's obverse and Gasparro's reverse complete the design pairing. Magnification of 10x or greater with directional lighting is recommended for examination.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Wexler Team

External References