2008-D Doubled Die Reverse DDR-002

Description

Standing out as one of the most visually distinctive doubled die varieties in the State Quarters series, DDR-002 on the 2008-D New Mexico Quarter displays a strong spread eastward that produces an extra partial upright on the lower left upright of the Zia Pueblo sun symbol — the central design element of New Mexico's reverse. The Zia sun symbol, sacred to the Zia people of New Mexico, features four groups of rays extending from a central circle, and the hub doubling has created a partial phantom ray element that is visible without high magnification. VarietyVista documents this variety with Universal Variety Code UVC-1793 and Die Marriage Reference DMR-004. Stage A shows both obverse and reverse in Early Die State (EDS), while Stages B and C (MDS and LDS respectively) remain unconfirmed. The notation "Satin Finish" combined with "Can be found in Mint Sets" indicates this variety occurs on the special satin-finish coins included in 2005-2010 era Mint Sets rather than on standard business strikes — the U.S. Mint produced these distinctive matte-surface coins exclusively for collector sets during that period. The 2008-D New Mexico Quarter was the final State Quarter issued by the Denver Mint, closing out the popular ten-year program that had introduced millions of new collectors to numismatics. The combination of a strong doubled die on an iconic cultural symbol, satin finish exclusivity, and end-of-series significance gives DDR-002 multiple dimensions of collector appeal within a single variety.

Die Markers

• UVC-1793
• DMR-004
• Stage A:
• Obverse and Reverse are EDS
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by James Wiles
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References