2019 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-017

Description

Seventeenth in the Wexler-documented obverse doubled die census for the 2019 Lincoln Shield cent, WDDO-017 displays significant extra thickness on the letters in LIBERTY — a degree of doubling intensity that elevates this variety above many of the lighter-spread DDOs cataloged for this modern date. The Lincoln Shield cent, introduced in 2010 with Lyndall Bass's Union Shield reverse replacing the Lincoln Memorial, continues Victor David Brenner's iconic obverse portrait first struck in 1909. The reverse carries a distinctive diagnostic: a die crack running across the top left of the shield above the letters PLU in PLURIBUS, providing a secondary identification marker independent of the obverse doubling. No significant obverse die markers were recorded beyond the doubling itself, meaning collectors must rely on the LIBERTY thickness and the reverse die crack for confident attribution. The Wexler Team cataloged this variety under Wexler Variety ID: 2019 1¢ WDDO-017, with no additional cross-references currently known from CONECA or other attribution services. Philadelphia struck approximately 3.54 billion cents in 2019, consuming thousands of working dies across the production year and creating ample statistical opportunity for hub doubling events. The "significant extra thickness" classification indicates the doubling manifests as noticeably thickened letter strokes rather than clearly separated secondary impressions — a presentation common in close-spread hub doubling where the displacement between primary and secondary hub impressions is small but sufficient to produce measurably wider design elements. Examination of LIBERTY under 10-15x magnification should reveal letter strokes that are perceptibly broader than those on correctly hubbed dies.

Attribution History

• Discovered by David Curfman Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 2019 1¢ WDDO-017
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References