1997 Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-025

Description

Cataloged by the Wexler Team as 1997 1-cent WDDR-025, this doubled die reverse variety on the Lincoln Memorial Cent shows its primary doubling feature as a bar extending from the middle of the statue's knee to the middle of the adjacent leg, positioned to the left of the statue within the sixth Memorial column. The Lincoln Memorial Cent, with Victor David Brenner's obverse portrait and Frank Gasparro's Lincoln Memorial reverse introduced in 1959, was struck at the Philadelphia Mint in copper-plated zinc (2.50 grams, 19.05 mm diameter) — the standard composition adopted in 1982 when rising copper prices made the traditional bronze planchet uneconomical. No cross-references to other attribution systems are currently known for this variety. Reverse die markers include a die chip to the left of the bottom of the left upright of the N in UNITED, a second die chip below the bottom of the same letter's left upright, a die chip over the E of E PLURIBUS, and feeder finger damage below the Memorial steps. Feeder finger damage occurs when the mechanical fingers that position blank planchets on the press leave marks that transfer to the die surface over time. No significant obverse die markers have been noted. The bar-like doubling feature between the statue's knee and leg provides a distinctive visual diagnostic that distinguishes this variety from the numerous other doubled die reverses cataloged for the 1997 Lincoln cent.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Steve Young Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1997 1¢ WDDR-025
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References