Lincoln Wheat Cent DDO-001 Set - 1909-1939 With Notes

Well I said I would think about posting up the DDO-001 collection when my latest ANACS submission came in. I don't have the coins yet but the grades are posted so I know what they are and where I am at with things. Instead of just posting the whole list, I am going to break it up into sections and add some notes about the dies. This should make the whole exercise more useful and not create one single four mile long thread.

For this group I have at least one example of every die, and all all slabbed except 1930, as I just have never found one in any reasonable condition for slabbing.

1909 VDB (FS-1101) - PCGS MS62RB, ANACS AU58
These are far more scarce than the die 2, and available in high grade if you want to put the money out for it. Always figured I'd eventually pick one but still stuck at MS62.

1915-D - ANACS AU53
Probably not a DDO but just Die Deterioration. Others agree, but it is listed so I have one. Actually slabbed 2 but gave one away.

1917 (FS-101) - NGC AU55BN, ANACS EF45
Both coins have some minor ding that likely would details at PCGS so just never tried to cross them. Relatively common die in low grade, but price goes up big time as they get into the mid grades.

1923 - ANACS MS63BN, AU50
Tough to see on circulated coins, as just a minor class VI DDO.

1924 - ANACS VF20
Could be rare or just few higher grade coins from this year to look at. Either way, I have never seen a high grade example. Still, just another trivial class VI die no one is looking for.

1924-S - ANACS MS61BN (x2), AU50, EF40 Stage A
Somewhat minor class VI die, but easy to spot as it has a die chip in the enclosed area of the 4. After stage A there are also die chips in TRUST, which is much more common. I have never seen an example without the die chip in the 4.

1925-S (FS-101) - ANACS AU50
This is a quite common die, and brings almost no premium even in grades up to VF. But have only seen a few in MS and never won an auction so stuck at AU50.

1926 - ANACS MS64RB, AU53
Strong doubled eyelid to the south, but easy to confuse as there are other strong eyelids doubled to the south. Less common than WDDO-002 which is the one I see the most often. 1DO-002 also looks quite similar.

1927 (FS-101) - PCGS XF45BN
An overall tough die to find in any grade, and with a fairly minor spread really hard to even see on most circulated coins. Also note there are coins from this year with a strong MD in pretty much exactly the location as the doubling, which can be confusing.

1927-D/D (FS-501) - PCGS MS64BN (PCGS plate coin), AU55, AU50
This die is far more widely known for the strong D/D, as the DDO is a very minor doubled eyelid. Pretty common to find in circulated condition even after years of collectors pulling them out.

1929-D - ANACS VF30
Minor doubling most visible on GOD WE. I found several of these years ago and figured they were common, but it is very difficult to see in a photo and I rarely have high grade coins from this year coming in so just never have found a nice one.

1929-S - ANACS EF45
Trivial doubling pretty much limited to a wisp of a secondary 9. Took years to find one, although I do know one other collector who has found one as well.

1930 - too low of a grade to slab
I have at least half a dozen of these, a minor doubled eyelid, and not one would grade even VF. I believe Coppercoins sold an MS66 example but that's the only high grade one I've ever heard of. Likely not rare, just so minor it's hard to see in a photo.

1930-S - ANACS MS65RB (x2), 64RB, NGC MS65RB, 64RB
This die show pretty nice doubling around IN GOD WE, and comes in two very distinct die stages. Stage B is easy to spot as it has a die crack from the rim going into the date. Stage A is far tougher to find as it has no easily visible markers and you have to be able to see the doubling itself. The ANACS coins are Stage A, the NGC coins are Stage B.

1934 - ANACS MS65RD, NGC MS65RB
A very minor class VI doubled die, but not so hard to find as it has a nice DDR reverse as a marker.

1934-D (FS-101) - PCGS MS62BN
Another die that seems common in circulated cents but very tough in any MS grade. Been stuck at 62 for this one a long time. It's a very strong class VI and easy to spot by looking at the distortion on the BER of LIBERTY, among other places.

1935 (FS-101) - PCGS MS64RD
Uncommon in circulated cents but can be located with some looking, but really tough in any MS grade. Look for fat lower parts of the date as well as a bit of a doubled eyelid north. The doubling on TRUST is reasonable, but harder to see. Note that this is another year known to have strong MD that looks almost exactly like the DDO, so be careful with attributing this one on circulated cents.

1936 (FS-101) - PCGS MS62BN, ANACS EF40
This one has been known a long time, and mostly picked out of bulk wheat collections. But there are still a few out there and I find a couple low grade examples every year. Any MS example should be considered rare. On first glance the date looks much like DDO-002, but this die also shows nice doubling on all devices, easiest to see on the top of the R in TRUST.

1936-D - ANACS VF20
Really minor doubled eye. Apparently fairly rare as I have only ever seen one of these, and another collector says pretty much the same thing. Lots of DDO-002 coins out there, few of these.

1937 - ANACS MS64RB
This die is not really a DDO, but working hub doubling. The Wexler attribution site notes this, but VarietyVista still has it up so I went through the trouble to find one.

1937-S - PCGS MS66RD, NGC MS66RD
Possibly the most common DDO-001 in the whole series in MS grade. Easy to spot as it has strong class VI doubling, and many MS grade examples out there.

1938 (proof) - PCGS PR65RD
This one took a long time to find. Could be a rare die, or could be that there are few good photos of proof coins from this year on ebay to try and spot one. Decent class VI doubling, but a die few are hunting for.

1938-D - PCGS MS67+RD, 66+RD
Similar to 1934, this is a minor DDO which is fairly easy to spot as it has a nice DDR as a marker. The doubled eye is pretty light, but it was listed, and with a bit of searching can be found in pretty high grade now and again.

1939 (FS-101) - PCGS MS64RD, ANACS AU55
Can be spotted by a curving secondary 9 to the north, or with an extra eyelid fairly far north. There is other doubling, but those are the two places it can readily be seen. I would call this one rare in all grades, and very tough in the upper grades.