2005 Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-050

Description

Attributed by Richard L. Ray and carrying the Wexler Variety ID 2005 P WDDR-050 Business Strike Ocean in View, this doubled die reverse variety appears on a 2005 Philadelphia Mint Jefferson nickel from the Westward Journey series. The Ocean in View design commemorates the Lewis and Clark expedition's first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean, featuring a coastline landscape and the inscription from William Clark's November 1805 journal entry. The nickel is composed of 75% copper and 25% nickel, weighing 5.0 grams with a 21.2 mm diameter. Cross-referenced as CDDR-061 and CONECA DDR-028, this variety is cataloged across multiple attribution services that use different numbering systems but recognize the same die variety. The substantial number of doubled die reverse varieties discovered on the 2005 Ocean in View nickel — WDDR-050 being one of at least fifty — reflects both the intense collector interest in the Westward Journey program and the favorable design characteristics of the Ocean in View reverse for doubled die detection. Richard L. Ray's attribution of this particular variety adds to the body of work by multiple attributors who have systematically examined the 2005 nickel dies for evidence of hub doubling. The Ocean in View reverse's combination of landscape elements, text inscriptions, and decorative borders created numerous diagnostic points where hub displacement could manifest, making it one of the more productive modern reverse designs for DDR discovery. The Westward Journey program's limited two-year duration generated urgency among variety collectors to document die varieties before the designs were retired, resulting in comprehensive die study that yielded more cataloged varieties per year than the Monticello reverse typically produced. The Philadelphia Mint's business strike production of Ocean in View nickels provided the volume necessary for multiple doubled die varieties to enter circulation and be discovered by alert collectors.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Richard L. Ray
• CDDR-061/CONECA DDR-028; Wexler Variety ID: 2005 P WDDR-050 Business Strike Ocean in View
• Expert attribution by Richard L. Ray

External References