1970-S Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-005

Description

First published as 1970-S 1¢ 5-O-II in John Wexler's 1984 book The Lincoln Cent Doubled Die, WDDO-005 under the Small Date parent is notable for its Class II doubling mechanism — a distorted hub spread directed towards the center of the coin. Class II doubled dies are less common than the Class I rotational spreads that dominate most doubled die catalogs, making WDDO-005 a particularly instructive variety for collectors studying the range of hubbing anomalies that can occur during die preparation. The doubling is visible on LIBERTY, with the spread pulling design elements inward toward the coin's center rather than rotating them clockwise or counterclockwise. Distinctive die markers further define this variety: a die crack running from the 9 in the date to the mint mark traces a fracture path across the die face, while a die gouge near the designer's initials VDB provides an independent identification anchor. Cross-referenced as CONECA 10-O-II, Crawford CDDO-009, and Coppercoins 1970-S-1DO-012, this variety's documentation extends across every major attribution system. The Small Date parent classification under ODV-026 places this variety within the compact-date subset of 1970-S cents, where the tighter numeral spacing creates a different visual context for the die crack's path from the 9 to the mint mark. The 1984 publication date of Wexler's book means WDDO-005 has been known to the variety community for over four decades, providing an extensive track record of specimen documentation and die marker verification that makes attribution highly reliable for knowledgeable examiners.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Garland Lawson Cross References: CONECA: 10-O-II, Crawford: CDDO-009, Coppercoins: 1970-S-1DO-012 Comments: This variety was first published as 1970-S 1¢ 5-O-II in The Lincoln Cent Doubled Die published in 1984. Later it was listed as 22-O-II in the CONECA Files. This was changed at a later date to 10-O-II when CONECA revamped their Lincoln cent doubled die files. It is possible that specimens are still on the market with those old listing numbers.
• CONECA: 10-O-II, Crawford: CDDO-009, Coppercoins: 1970-S-1DO-012 Comments: This variety was first published as 1970-S 1¢ 5-O-II in The Lincoln Cent Doubled Die published in 1984. Later it was listed as 22-O-II in the CONECA Files. This was changed at a later date to 10-O-II when CONECA revamped their Lincoln cent doubled die files. It is possible that specimens are still on the market with those old listing numbers.; Wexler Variety ID: 1970-S 1¢ WDDO-005
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References