1998-D Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-005

Description

Cataloged by the Wexler Team as 1998-D 1-cent WDDR-005 with Crawford cross-reference CDDR-007, this fifth doubled die reverse for the 1998 Denver-mint Lincoln Memorial Cent exhibits partial extra columns visible in bays 2, 3, and 9 of the Lincoln Memorial structure on the reverse. Extra columns in the Memorial bays are among the most visually distinctive doubled die effects on Lincoln Memorial cents because the parallel vertical elements of the building's colonnade produce immediately recognizable ghost pillars when hub displacement introduces a secondary image. Frank Gasparro's Memorial reverse, adopted in 1959, depicts the front view of the Lincoln Memorial with its twelve visible columns representing the states in the Union at Lincoln's death, and bays are numbered left to right between these columns. Doubling in bays 2, 3, and 9 — spanning from the left portion to the right portion of the colonnade — indicates a displacement vector that affected a wide horizontal swath of the die face. Obverse die markers include a small die gouge (dot) to the right of the front curl of Lincoln's hair. Reverse markers feature a short die scratch running north from the top right of the C in AMERICA and a die gouge to the left of the top of the O in ONE. The 1998-D cent was struck at the Denver Mint in copper-plated zinc at 2.5 grams and 19.05 mm diameter. The dual attribution across both Wexler and Crawford systems confirms this variety's established recognition in the collecting community.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Jeremy Gardner Cross References: Crawford: CDDR-007
• Crawford: CDDR-007; Wexler Variety ID: 1998-D 1¢ WDDR-005
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References