1964-D Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-010

Description

Reaching double digits in the Wexler doubled die obverse catalog for the 1964-D Lincoln Memorial Cent, WDDO-010 reflects the vast die consumption that accompanied the Denver Mint's record production year. Each of the thousands of obverse dies manufactured for the 1964-D cent was individually hubbed — the working hub pressed into a softened die blank multiple times under hydraulic pressure — and each session was an independent event in which hub misalignment could occur. The statistical expectation across thousands of such sessions is that multiple dies would develop measurable doubled images, and the progressive discovery of WDDO-010 and its catalog neighbors confirms this expectation. The variety was struck as a regular-strike circulation coin, one of 3,799,071,500 Denver Mint cents produced in 1964 as part of the federal government's urgent response to the nationwide coin shortage. This shortage had reached crisis proportions by 1964, prompting Congress to authorize extraordinary production measures and to pass legislation removing mint marks from all coins beginning in 1965 — a policy intended to reduce the incentive for collectors and speculators to hoard specific date-and-mint combinations. The 1964-D cent was therefore the final Denver Mint Lincoln cent to carry the D mint mark until its restoration in 1968, lending the date a particular significance for collectors who value historical context alongside die variety interest. WDDO-010 should be identified through careful magnified comparison with published doubling patterns and die markers. The coin was struck on a 95% copper and 5% tin-zinc planchet at 19mm diameter and 3.11 grams.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Wexler Team

External References