1998 Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-021

Description

Attributed by the Wexler Team under Variety ID 1998 1c WDDR-021 with no other known cross-references, this 1998 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Memorial Cent shows doubling on the lower left side of the 7th Memorial column, to the right of the seated statue's legs. Obverse die markers include a die gouge found north of the 1 in the date. The reverse exhibits a die gouge to the north of the designer's initials FG (for Frank Gasparro) and another die gouge well to the right of the T in CENT. The 7th Memorial column — counted from left to right across the facade — sits in the central area adjacent to the Lincoln statue, and doubling that creates an extra partial column segment in this area directly interacts with the statue's seated figure, making it a visually compelling variety. The 1998 Philadelphia Mint struck approximately 5.03 billion cents, one of the higher annual productions, and twenty-one documented Wexler doubled die reverses for this single date and mint demonstrates both the enormous die pair consumption and the methodical research that variety experts conduct on high-volume years. Die gouges found on both the obverse (north of the 1) and reverse (near the designer's initials and the T of CENT) provide three distinct diagnostic markers that assist in confirming the specific die pair when attributing this variety.

Attribution History

• Discovered by James Hair Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1998 1¢ WDDR-021
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References