1971 Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-002

Description

Attributed by the Wexler Team under Wexler Variety ID 1971 $1 WDDR-002, this second doubled die reverse for the inaugural 1971 Philadelphia Mint Eisenhower Dollar was produced during the first year of the last large-format dollar coin series in U.S. history. The Eisenhower Dollar, authorized by the Bank Holding Company Act of 1970, honored President Dwight D. Eisenhower and featured Frank Gasparro's reverse design depicting an eagle landing on the Moon — a tribute to the Apollo 11 mission of 1969. A doubled die reverse forms during the hubbing process when the hub and die are not perfectly aligned between successive impressions, transferring a secondary offset image onto the working die that is then reproduced on every coin struck from that die. As the second documented DDR for 1971, this variety exists alongside at least three others for the same date, indicating multiple hubbing errors during the initial die preparation for this new series. The 1971-P Eisenhower Dollar was struck in copper-nickel clad composition for circulation, with separate 40% silver versions produced at San Francisco for collectors. First-year issues of any series tend to attract heightened collector scrutiny, and the Eisenhower Dollar's large 38.1mm diameter provides ample surface area for doubling to manifest.

Attribution History

• Wexler Variety ID: 1971 $1 WDDR-002
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References