1968-D Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-005

Description

Fifth cataloged doubled die reverse for the 1968 Denver Kennedy Half Dollar, WDDR-005 adds to the substantial DDR population documented across silver-clad Kennedy Half Dollar production. The Wexler Team attributed this variety under cross-reference Wexler Variety ID 1968-D 50¢ WDDR-005, continuing their methodical examination of the hundreds of reverse dies used during Denver's prolific 1968 half dollar run. Hub doubling on the Kennedy Half Dollar reverse occurs during the die sinking process when the master hub — bearing Gasparro's heraldic eagle design in cameo relief — is pressed into the working die blank and slight positional shifts between successive impressions create doubled outlines on the finished die. These doubled outlines then transfer to every coin struck from that die, producing a consistent variety identifiable across all specimens from the same die pair. The five DDR varieties documented through WDDR-005 for 1968-D establish a middle tier among Kennedy Half Dollar date-mint DDR populations: enough to demonstrate systematic variety occurrence but fewer than the most prolific dates in the series. The 40% silver content of 1968-D half dollars contributed to extensive collector examination — coins worth above face value in silver received more careful scrutiny than pure copper-nickel issues, increasing the probability of variety discovery and the completeness of the documented DDR catalog for this transitional-composition date.

Attribution History

• Wexler Variety ID: 1968-D 50¢ WDDR-005
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References