2012 Doubled Die Reverse WDDR-004

Description

Fourth in the Wexler Team's growing WDDR catalog for the 2012-P Denali National Park quarter, this variety was established relatively early in the systematic survey of hub doubling on Susan Gamble's Denali reverse. The quarter's design — featuring a solitary Dall sheep perched on a rocky outcrop with Denali's twin peaks rising behind it — compresses an enormous scale differential into the 24.3mm planchet: the sheep stands at close range while the mountain recedes into the far distance, and the perspective transition between these two planes creates surface contour changes where hub displacement becomes particularly evident. No cross-references beyond the Wexler catalog exist for WDDR-004, and attribution depends on matching the specific spread pattern and affected design elements against Wexler documentation. The America the Beautiful program, which ran from 2010 through 2021, produced 56 unique reverse designs across the series, and the 2012 Denali issue — as Alaska's contribution — generated disproportionate variety interest partly because of the design's complexity and partly because Alaska's natural landscapes hold special appeal for collectors. The Denali WDDR catalog's depth illustrates how a single compelling reverse design can motivate the kind of intensive die-by-die examination that discovers varieties otherwise lost to numismatic history.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Steven Bernatowicz Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 2012-P 25¢ AK WDDR-004
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References