2005 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-001

Description

Occupying the lead position in the Wexler census for the 2005-P California State Quarter obverse, WDDO-001 exhibits very minor doubling visible on the front underside of Washington's earlobe — an extraordinarily subtle variety that demonstrates how even minimal hub displacement can be cataloged when it falls on a clearly defined anatomical feature of the portrait. The State Quarters program (1999-2008), which issued five unique reverse designs per year honoring each of the 50 states, used John Flanagan's Washington portrait on the obverse across all 100 different quarter issues. California was honored in the series' seventh year with a reverse designed by Don Everhart, featuring naturalist John Muir and the California condor against a backdrop of Yosemite's Half Dome. Philadelphia struck hundreds of millions of California quarters in 2005, generating working die pairs at a rate that statistically favored the occurrence of hub doubling events. Submitted by Steven Westfall, this variety carries no significant obverse or reverse die markers beyond the doubling itself — a limitation that makes attribution more challenging, as there are no secondary diagnostics to confirm the specific die pair independent of the doubling feature. The Wexler Team cataloged this as Wexler Variety ID: 2005-P 25-cent CA WDDO-001, with no cross-references from other attribution services currently known. The very minor classification places this at the lowest end of the doubling intensity spectrum, requiring patient examination under 20x or greater magnification focused specifically on the curved underside of Washington's earlobe. The earlobe, with its smooth curved surface and defined edge, provides an effective canvas for detecting even minimal displacement because any secondary contour against the clean curved boundary stands out as anomalous.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Marilyn Keeney Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 2005-P 25¢ CA WDDO-001
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References