1998 Doubled Die Reverse DDR-008

Description

Featuring one of the more visually descriptive doubling patterns among Lincoln Memorial Cent varieties, DDR-008 on the 1998 issue shows a medium clockwise-rotated spread that produces three distinct phantom architectural elements within the Memorial building: an extra column number 6 (visible from shin to ankle height), an extra set of feet between the legs of the Lincoln statue, and an extra column number 7 (from shin to foot). The rotation component means the secondary hub impression was angularly displaced from the primary, creating a spread that shifts elements along a curved path rather than in a straight line. VarietyVista documents this variety with Universal Variety Code UVC-3233 and Die Marriage Reference DMR-010. Stage A shows both reverse and obverse in Early Die State (EDS), while Stages B and C (MDS and LDS) remain unconfirmed. The comment "RDV-007" identifies the Reverse Design Variety as the seventh cataloged reverse die type, connecting this variety to a family of dies sharing common design characteristics. Frank Gasparro's Memorial Cent reverse, with its miniature rendering of the Lincoln Memorial complete with columns and seated statue, provides remarkably fine detail at the one-cent scale — detail that makes doubled die effects particularly interesting when they create phantom architectural features. The extra columns and phantom feet generated by the rotational doubling effectively create a ghost version of the statue and its flanking architecture, offset at a slight angle from the primary impression. Eight cataloged doubled die reverses for the 1998 date demonstrates sustained variety research on late-era Memorial Cents.

Die Markers

• UVC-3233
• DMR-010
• 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