1964-D Doubled Die Obverse DDO-002

Description

Second in the doubled die obverse census for the 1964-D Roosevelt dime, DDO-002 exhibits light spread on IN GOD WE TRUST and John R. Sinnock's designer initials JS on the final year of 90% silver Roosevelt dime production before the Coinage Act of 1965 eliminated silver from circulating dimes. VarietyVista assigned die identifiers UVC-476 and DMR-024, tracking three die stages: Stage A where the obverse is at early die state while the reverse has already progressed to mid die state, Stage B at MDS (unconfirmed), and Stage C at LDS (unconfirmed). The asymmetric die state at Stage A — an EDS obverse paired with an MDS reverse — indicates the reverse die entered service earlier than the obverse or wore more rapidly, a situation that occasionally occurred when dies from different production runs were paired together. The obverse carries the additional designation ODV-011 (blunt 9), identifying a specific Obverse Design Variant where the numeral 9 in the date displays a blunted or truncated terminal on the digit's tail — a hub characteristic that distinguishes this die from other 1964-D obverses. Denver struck an extraordinary 1.36 billion dimes in 1964, the highest single-year dime mintage in history at that time, driven by Congress's directive to maximize silver coin production before the impending composition change. This staggering output required hundreds of working die pairs, and the sheer scale of production increased the likelihood of hub doubling events surviving into production runs. The light spread on IGWT and JS initials provides the primary doubling diagnostic, while the blunt 9 offers an independent design variant confirmation. Collectors should examine the IGWT letters and the JS initials near the neck truncation at 15x magnification, using the blunt 9 as a preliminary die identification marker.

Die Markers

• UVC-476
• DMR-024
• Stage A:
• Obverse is EDS
• Reverse is MDS
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Charles Bondurant
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References