Posted 05/20/2008 8:23 pm
If you are going to search for errors and varieties, you absolutely must have some kind of magnification. I use a 10X loupe , and have a couple more powerful ones for even closer examination. The vast majority of Doubled Dies are not very visible with the naked eye, the exceptions are extreme examples of doubling- such as the 1955 Lincoln Cent DDO- and they carry a very large premium. My sight is not what it used to be, but without magnification I would never have found most of the errors I have found over the years.
I got my first DDO from the melt bag, a 1964 -D Kennedy half. If you can look through a local dealers melt bag of half dollars, you should be able to find a DDO Kennedy without searching for too awful long. Some are pretty noticeable, and It really helped me with identifying a true Double Die vs. Machine Doubling- and for a very reasonable price. When I look at the Halfs, I concentrate on TRUST, it seems to be the most noticeable area for doubling on most of the DDO varieties. Look for splits in the serifs of the T's of trust, if you look really closely at most of the 64-D Kennedy's(the T closest to rim especially ), you will find that most all of them are Doubled to some degree (that has been my experience anyway)
Watch the Mint Marks on those halves too, there are alot of Re-Punched Mint Marks on them, I have a bunch- some also have a DDO...lots of fun to look for, but even more fun to find them ! Good Luck !
I got my first DDO from the melt bag, a 1964 -D Kennedy half. If you can look through a local dealers melt bag of half dollars, you should be able to find a DDO Kennedy without searching for too awful long. Some are pretty noticeable, and It really helped me with identifying a true Double Die vs. Machine Doubling- and for a very reasonable price. When I look at the Halfs, I concentrate on TRUST, it seems to be the most noticeable area for doubling on most of the DDO varieties. Look for splits in the serifs of the T's of trust, if you look really closely at most of the 64-D Kennedy's(the T closest to rim especially ), you will find that most all of them are Doubled to some degree (that has been my experience anyway)
Watch the Mint Marks on those halves too, there are alot of Re-Punched Mint Marks on them, I have a bunch- some also have a DDO...lots of fun to look for, but even more fun to find them ! Good Luck !
