1972-S Doubled Die Obverse DDO-003

Description

Displaying strong extra thickness on IN GOD WE TRUST and the date, this third doubled die obverse for the 1972 San Francisco Mint Washington Quarter demonstrates meaningful hub displacement on a proof or proof-like issue. Cataloged by VarietyVista under UVC-1979 with die marker reference DMR-009, the variety is documented at Stage A with both obverse and reverse in early die state, while Stages B and C remain unconfirmed. The strong extra thickness on the motto and date indicates the hub impressions were offset enough to create visibly doubled lettering and numerals, a level of displacement that makes this variety detectable under modest magnification. The 1972-S Washington Quarter belongs to the early clad proof era at San Francisco, where the facility had been producing proof coins since 1968 after the three-year hiatus during the SMS period of 1965-1967. San Francisco's proof production employed specially prepared dies and planchets, and the doubling on this variety would have been present from the earliest strikes of the die. Proof dies were typically used for shorter runs than business strike dies, so doubled die proofs often have lower populations. Three documented doubled die obverses for the 1972-S quarter reflects the specialized research community focused on clad proof varieties from the early 1970s.

Die Markers

• UVC-1979
• DMR-009
• Stage A:
• Obverse and Reverse are EDS
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Timothy Wissert
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References