1970-S Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-018

Description

The Large Date counterpart to the celebrated WDDO-018 on the 1970-S Lincoln Memorial cent, this entry carries the same Cherry Pickers' Guide designation FS-01-1970S-103 (030.1) and Breen #2257 listing as its Small Date sibling. The hub doubling characteristics are identical — a Class V pivoted counterclockwise spread with the pivot point centered at approximately 9 o'clock on the 70 in the date — because the doubling was imparted during die manufacture rather than during striking. What distinguishes this Large Date entry is the parent classification: the date punch used to create the working die produced the taller 7 and straighter 9 loop characteristic of the Large Date variety, placing the coin in a different collecting category despite sharing the same doubled die hub lineage. The three-stage obverse and three-stage reverse progression documents the die's full working life from early to late states, with evolving die markers across each stage. Cross-references span CONECA 5-O-V and Crawford CDDO-021, providing attribution pathways through multiple systems. The Class V pivot doubling mechanism that defines WDDO-018 is diagnostically significant because it produces a radial pattern of increasing spread — elements near the 9 o'clock pivot show minimal displacement while elements at 3 o'clock show maximum separation between primary and secondary images. This gradient effect distinguishes pivot doubling from the uniform spread of Class I rotated doubling and from the distortion patterns of Class II varieties. Walter Breen's inclusion of this variety as #2257 in his encyclopedia confirms its long-recognized status among significant Lincoln cent doubled dies, and the Cherry Pickers' Guide listing ensures continued collector demand across both Large Date and Small Date classifications. Die Markers: Obverse Stage A: Die gouge left of lower N of IN A small die gouge can be found at the rim above the second T in TRUST. Obverse Stage B: Two small die gouges (dots) above 7. Die scratch NNE from top of 7. Curving die scratch left of upper G of GOD. Reverse Stage A: Short die scratch SSE from bottom of 2nd T in STATES. Reverse Stage C: Numerous curving die scratches.

Attribution History

• CONECA: 5-O-V, Crawford: CDDO-021, Cherrypickers: FS-01-1970S-103 (030.1), Breen #2257; Wexler Variety ID: 1970-S 1¢ WDDO-018
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References