1966 Kennedy Half Dollar - Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-011

Description

Struck from a 40% silver clad planchet during the three-year period when Congress mandated the removal of mint marks from United States coinage, this 1966 Kennedy Half Dollar presents a doubled die obverse attributed by the Wexler Team as WDDO-011. The absence of mint marks on 1965 through 1967 issues was intended to discourage hoarding by making coins harder to distinguish by facility of origin, a policy that complicates modern die variety research since mint attribution relies entirely on die characteristics rather than external markings. Hub misalignment during die manufacture produced the doubling visible on the obverse design elements, creating a companion variety to the WDDO-010 and WDDO-012 dies also documented for the 1966 date. Each of these three doubled die obverses represents a separate die pair with its own diagnostic markers. The Kennedy Half Dollar series launched in 1964 as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy, and varieties from the early silver clad years remain actively pursued by collectors who appreciate the combination of precious metal content and die anomaly on a single coin.

Cross References

• Wexler Variety ID: 1966 50¢ WDDO-011

External References