1997 Doubled Die Reverse DDR-001

Description

Column seven on the Lincoln Memorial — spanning from the elbow to the knee of the Lincoln statue — appears doubled with a medium westward spread on this 1997 Philadelphia Mint cent, the primary DDR variety for the date. Tracked by VarietyVista under die markers UVC-2947 and DMR-004, the die progressed through three stages: Stage A with both reverse and obverse in early die state (EDS), Stage B in mid-die state (MDS, unconfirmed), and Stage C in late die state (LDS, unconfirmed). Column doubling on the Lincoln Memorial reverse is created when the hub impresses the die at slightly different positions during successive hubbing operations, and the thin vertical columns are among the most sensitive design elements for revealing these positional differences. The westward spread direction means the secondary impression is displaced to the left (as viewed on the coin), creating a ghost column image west of the primary. The elbow-to-knee span of the extra column image on DDR-001 differs from other column DDR varieties that may show the extra column over different vertical extents, reflecting the specific geometry of the hub misalignment on this particular die. The 1997 Philadelphia Lincoln Cent was struck in the copper-plated zinc composition that had replaced solid bronze in 1982, and Denver's massive annual production continued to generate numerous die varieties for researchers to document.

Die Markers

• UVC-2947
• DMR-004
• Stage A:
• Reverse and Obverse are EDS
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by James Wiles
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References