My First Doubled Die From Circulation, 1974-D DDO-1 Kennedy

After reading these forums for months and studying photos of all sorts of doubling, I broke down and did my first circulating coin roll hunt in decades. I chose a goal of locating a Kennedy 1974-D DDO-1. That seemed like a reasonable target—should be an easy DDO to ID even among circulated coins, and common enough to have good odds of success.

I ordered two boxes of halves through my bank. I took my time working through them, looking for upgrades to my set of business strike halves. I set aside several dozen 1974 D's for checking under my dinky $20 USB microscope. My focus was on "WE TRUST" after studying photos on Variety Vista. About twenty coins in, I see:





Yes! Success! Spread, glorious spread on the devices! And split serifs!

Then I snatched it up to look at the condition of the coin, and I see:








Nooooo! Out of that pile of coins, it had to be that one? Really? The one with chunks of metal gouged out from the nose, lips, and shield? I don't gamble for a reason. My luck isn't so good.

Oh well. Gives me a reason to check a few more boxes of halves to upgrade my example!

A thank you to all who post and explain their examples. It does help. That's a big part of the reason for this post.