2020 VDDR VDDR-011

Description

Documented in the VarietyVista doubled die files as 2020 5c VDDR-011, this Jefferson Nickel displays doubled die reverse characteristics on the Monticello reverse design. The VDDR (VarietyVista Doubled Die Reverse) designation places this variety within the VarietyVista cataloging framework, which runs parallel to the Wexler numbering system and provides independent documentation of die varieties across U.S. coinage. Doubled die reverses on modern Jefferson Nickels manifest through hub-to-die misalignment during the die manufacturing process, where two or more impressions of the design hub are applied to the working die at slightly different positions or angles, creating overlapping design elements that appear as doubling, extra thickness, or split serifs on the finished coins. The Monticello building's detailed architectural features — its columned portico, semicircular window, multiple doorways, and stepped entablature — provide numerous surfaces at varying angles to any hub displacement vector, making the Jefferson Nickel reverse one of the most diagnostically rich denominations for doubled die analysis. The 2020 Jefferson Nickel was struck in copper-nickel composition (75% copper, 25% nickel) weighing 5.00 grams with a diameter of 21.21 mm. The Monticello reverse depicts Thomas Jefferson's neoclassical Virginia plantation home designed by Jefferson himself, restored to the coin's reverse in 2006 after the temporary Westward Journey designs of 2004-2005. Felix Schlag's original 1938 design was modified over the decades but maintains the essential architectural rendering that makes it one of the most detailed reverses in U.S. circulation coinage. Collectors examining potential specimens should focus on the inscription letters and architectural lines under 7x to 10x magnification to identify the characteristic displacement pattern specific to this die.

Die Markers

• UVC-????
• DMR-00?
• Stage A:
• Die scratch from S of
• PLURIBUS through first U of UNUM – EDS
• Obverse is EDS
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Robert Umbarger
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References