More Machine Doubling (I'm Pretty Sure) | Kennedy Half

Yours are machine doubled.

Machine Doubling is damage that happens as a coin is struck that distorts the letters into something that looks to the untrained eye like doubling. The die hops a little or it twists a little. It pushes the metal around and the scraped area gives the impression of doubling. (Look at the coins in your picture)

Die doubling is doubling (tripling and quadrupling can also happen) of lettering and details on a coin that is the result of doubling that is actually already on the die itself.

The dies can have multiple images for several reasons, There are actually eight Classes of doubled dies. It would take a book to explain them all.

Essentially, in the back and forth procedure of making hubs and dies, one or the other is misaligned. As a result, a hub or a die can have multiple images that ultimately end up on what is called a "working die". The working die actually has the images doubled or tripled or quadrupled. That die then imparts that doubled image to a coin by virtue of the doubling already on the die. Every coin struck by that die will have the same doubling. The only variation is in how worn the die gets. The doubling is stronger on earlier strikes and may be mushy or just look like fat letters on later strikes.

Machine Doubling is flat and shelflike, Die doubling shows separation between the images.

I am switching from one internet server to another so one of my pages may not be available. In any case, I have an article on doubled dies on Kennedy half dollars at http://www.askaboutcoins.com

Click to open the article. Click on the link under the picture to open it up then place your mouse over the picture and click again to enlarge it. It will show you what to look for on Kennedy Doubled dies. You will see the separation I am talking about, particularly on the 1969 D DDR and the 1974 D DDO.

Thanks,
Bill

PS: Ask About Coins is not loading right now.. Keep trying until you can get there. It may not be available tonight.

Bill

Thanks so much for this info. So basicly the Machine Doubling can happen in several ways but is unpredictable. With Doubled Dies every coin gets it. So would it be safe to say that the 1974d DDO all came from the same die or were there multiple dies having this doubling?

You comment: "So basically the Machine Doubling can happen in several ways but is unpredictable. With Doubled Dies every coin gets it."

AND...That is exactly right!

Thanks,
Bill