1964-D Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-009

Description

Struck from the Denver Mint's historic 1964 production run, the 1964-D Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-009 is a circulation-strike variety that carries a doubled obverse design embedded during the die manufacturing process. The doubling was created when the obverse working hub — a hardened steel cylinder bearing Lincoln's portrait, the date, and the obverse legends in relief — was pressed into a heated die blank multiple times to transfer the incuse design, and a slight shift occurred between impressions. This displacement, though small enough to escape casual notice, left a secondary image permanently engraved in the die alongside the primary design, and every cent struck from the die faithfully reproduced both images. The enormous scale of 1964-D cent production — 3,799,071,500 pieces, driven by the coin shortage that had become a dominant concern of federal monetary policy — means that the absolute surviving population of any single die's output could be significant even though it represents a negligible fraction of the total mintage. Most of these coins entered circulation immediately and were never examined for varieties, leaving the possibility that undiscovered examples remain in accumulations, rolls, and collections across the country. The 1964-D cent occupies a transitional moment in American numismatics: it was the last coin from the Denver Mint to carry a mint mark before the 1965-67 removal, and the last Lincoln cent struck on the 95% copper composition before it too was eventually replaced. Identification of WDDO-009 requires magnified examination and comparison with published Wexler reference photographs. Struck on a 3.11-gram planchet at 19mm diameter.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Wexler Team

External References