1974-S Doubled Die Obverse DDO-002

Description

Positioned as the DDO-002 designation for the 1974-S Eisenhower dollar proof, this obverse doubled die exhibits light spread on IN GOD WE TRUST, LIBERTY, and the cross bar of the 4 in the date, with the doubling manifesting mostly as strong notches rather than fully separated secondary images. VarietyVista assigned die identifiers UVC-069 and DMR-013, documenting three die stages: Stage A where both obverse and reverse surfaces are at early die state, Stage B at mid die state (unconfirmed), and Stage C at late die state (unconfirmed). The EDS confirmation for Stage A indicates specimens with fresh die surfaces have been verified. The comment notation identifies this as a copper-nickel (CN) proof issue, placing it within San Francisco's proof production program for the Eisenhower dollar series (1971-1978). Frank Gasparro designed both the obverse (featuring Dwight D. Eisenhower's portrait) and the reverse (depicting the Apollo 11 mission insignia eagle landing on the Moon with Earth in the background). The notched serif presentation of the doubling provides a distinctive diagnostic: rather than producing clearly separated doubled letter images, the light spread creates angular extensions at letter and numeral terminations that resemble small notches cut into the endpoints of strokes. The cross bar of the 4 in the date is highlighted as a particularly diagnostic area, where the horizontal stroke of the numeral shows notched ends from the slight displacement between hub impressions. Proof production at San Francisco utilized polished dies and specially prepared planchets, creating mirror-finish surfaces that provide high-contrast backgrounds against which even light doubling becomes more visible. Collectors should examine the cross bar of the 4, the serifs of LIBERTY, and the letter terminations of IGWT under 15-20x magnification, looking for the characteristic notched extensions at stroke endpoints rather than broad secondary images.

Die Markers

• UVC-069
• DMR-013
• Stage A:
• Obverse and Reverse are EDS
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Charles Bondurant
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References