1997 Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-019

Description

Cataloged by the Wexler Team as 1997 1-cent WDDR-019, this Lincoln Memorial cent reverse features a bar extending from the lower leg to the upper base to the left of the seated Lincoln statue on the sixth column of the Memorial facade. This linear anomaly — a raised element not present on normal strikes — represents a localized hub displacement artifact concentrated in the area surrounding the small but iconic seated Lincoln figure within Frank Gasparro's Memorial design. Obverse die markers include a die chip just east of the earlobe, while the reverse carries multiple die chips: one below and left of the bottom left upright of the N in ONE, one inside the upper U in UNITED, one centered between the lower U and N of UNITED, and a die gouge below the N of UNITED. No cross-references to CONECA or Cherrypickers have been established. The 1997 Lincoln Memorial cent was struck at the Philadelphia Mint on copper-plated zinc planchets weighing 2.5 grams with a diameter of 19.05 mm. The extensive documentation of die chips across multiple reverse lettering positions suggests a working die with progressive surface deterioration, where small fragments of die steel separated from the die face and created corresponding raised bumps on struck coins. The bar extending from the statue's lower leg to the column base at the sixth column mirrors the similar but distinct anomaly documented on WDDR-011 (which shows a bar at the seventh column), indicating that multiple 1997 working dies developed related but independently located displacement artifacts in the Memorial statue area.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Steve Young Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1997 1¢ WDDR-019
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References