2012 UFO Variety WUFO-001

Description

Cataloged by the Wexler Team as WUFO-001, this Unidentified Fascinating Oddity on the 2012 Lincoln Shield cent presents what appears to be an extra eyelid below Lincoln's normal eyelid — a feature whose origin remains debated among variety specialists. The description favors interpreting this as a well-placed die gouge rather than genuine hub doubling, reflecting the honest uncertainty that the UFO classification explicitly acknowledges. Lyndall Bass's Shield reverse design, introduced in 2010 to replace the four rotating 2009 bicentennial reverses, features a union shield with a scroll bearing ONE CENT, while Victor David Brenner's obverse portrait continues the Lincoln tradition established in 1909. The UFO (Unidentified Fascinating Oddity) designation is reserved for varieties that exhibit die-produced anomalies not readily classifiable under standard categories such as doubled dies, repunched mintmarks, or die cracks — specimens where the mechanism of creation remains genuinely uncertain. Philadelphia struck over 3.1 billion Shield cents in 2012, a production volume where individual die anomalies can arise from countless sources including foreign particle contact, hub imperfections, die polishing artifacts, or legitimate hub doubling at angles that produce ambiguous results. No significant obverse or reverse die markers were recorded beyond the anomaly itself, which limits secondary confirmation options. The Wexler Team's Variety ID 2012 1-cent WUFO-001 establishes this as the first cataloged UFO for the date. Die gouges near the eye area of Lincoln's portrait can closely mimic doubled eyelid effects because the linear geometry of a gouge paralleling the eyelid contour produces visually similar results. Collectors should examine the extra eyelid under high magnification (20x or greater) to assess whether the shape follows the natural curvature of the eye or shows the more irregular profile typical of mechanical gouges.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Axer E. Cotto Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 2012 1¢ WUFO-001
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References