2010-D Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-001

Description

Attributed by the Wexler Team as 2010-D 1¢ WDDO-001, this doubled die obverse variety was struck at the Denver Mint on a 2010 Lincoln Shield cent, the first year of the union shield reverse design by Lyndall Bass that replaced Frank Gasparro's Lincoln Memorial reverse after its 49-year run. The coin was produced in copper-plated zinc, weighing 2.5 grams with a 19 mm diameter. The primary doubling manifests as extra thickness on the letters of LIBERTY, with the strongest spread most apparent on the vertical bars of the TY and the upper left branch of the Y. This concentration of doubling in the TY area provides a focused pickup point for initial identification, though the extra thickness is present across the full LIBERTY inscription. Obverse die markers include a die gouge between the tops of the I and N in IN, and a small die gouge (dot) above the left side of the E in LIBERTY. The reverse carries a small die gouge (dot) to the left of the U in UNITED. As the WDDO-001 designation indicates, this was the first doubled die obverse cataloged for the 2010-D Lincoln cent, making it a foundational variety in the first-year Shield cent die variety census. Denver produced approximately 3.5 billion cents in 2010, the inaugural year for the new reverse design, and the large production volume created ample opportunity for the hub misalignment events that generate doubled die varieties. Victor David Brenner's Lincoln portrait, continuously used since 1909, provides the obverse design elements where this doubling manifests, and the transition to the new shield reverse marks 2010 as a historically significant year in the Lincoln cent series where variety collectors can document the beginning of a new design era.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Noel Okay Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 2010-D 1¢ WDDO-001
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References