By Ken Potter Special to
Coin World Die doubling strongest on tallest tree on reverse
result of tilted hubs or dies that seated into proper position during the initial kiss of the hub into the die blank. The face of a die blank (referred to as a "die block" in Mint jargon) is machined with a slightly conical configuration to aid in the flow of metal during this process. This configuration suggests that the initial kiss of a hub into a die blank would be restricted to this centralized area before continuing on to fill out the rest of the design.
During this process, to create doubling, the tip of a tilted die blank would be positioned slightly off location away from the center of the hub into a different area of design than intended and thus the misplaced area of doubling on the affected die.
However, the new Oregon quarter dollar variety defies this explanation. In this case, specialists believe that both tilted hub doubling and offset hub doubling are involved. Images of the 2005-P Oregon, Doubled Die Reverse quarter dollar were distributed among specialists vie e-mail, with their return comments all echoing the universal theme of a "hybrid doubled die" involving both classes.
Billy Crawford, well known doubled die specialist, author and editor of the online Die Variety News, said: "I really like this one! From the photos, it appears to be tilted with a possibility of an offset. This variety is now assigned in my Crawford 'C' files as 2005-P 25c Oregon Matte CDDR-001. As we have discussed before, this opens the door that collectors need to be not just looking at Min-A doubled die reverse has been identified for the Satin Finish 2005-P Oregon quarter dollar found in the 2005 Uncirculated Mint set.
The doubling shows best as strongly doubled branches shifted to the south of the stronger primary design of the tall evergreen tree in the foreground to the right. The coin also shows some doubling at the base of the highest relief areas of the rocky shoreline of the north-northeast rim of Crater Lake.
Troy Watkins of Garrett, Ky., found six examples while searching through 2005 Uncirculated Mint sets. Watkins was also the first person to report an "Extra Tree" doubled die reverse on the 2005-P Minnesota quarter dollar.
The doubling on the Oregon, Doubled Die Reverse quarter dollar is not in the center of the design, unlike on the Minnesota quarter dollar doubled dies (which now number more than 40 different varieties from all Mints), where the doubling is restricted to the center area of the coin design. The doubling on the Oregon coin is found north of the center, starting under the highest points of the base of the rocky shoreline, all the way over to the evergreen tree, where relatively widespread doubling is evident.
The more centralized doubling of the Minnesota quarter dollar doubled dies is an important key to their attribution and classification because specialists believe they are the nesota
State Quarters but all denominations. The possibilities are endless."
John Wexler, author of numerous books on doubled dies and co-columnist with me of
Coin World's "Varieties Notebook" column, said: "Due to the uniformity in the direction of the doubling, I would have to say that this is Class IV (Offset Hub Doubling). However, since the doubling is confined to a portion of the one side, I would have to say that Class VIII (Tilted Hub Doubling) was also involved with this one. It looks like a hybrid of the two classes. This one is definitely an exciting find since it displays the more 'traditional' type of hubbing doubling. Needless to say, it certainly points out a fact that we variety specialists have been saying for some time now. Collectors can't be focused solely on the Minnesota
State Quarters. Many of the other
State Quarters must be affected in the same or similar ways. This is a great find and one that is sure to guarantee many more sleepless nights for those of us doing the attributing."
Jose Cortez,
Washington quarter variety specialist and Webmaster of a Web site dedicated to
Washington quarter dollar varieties, said: "What a neat new discovery. As Billy said and others have also repeated time and time again, varieties are out there. We know it - collectors know it! It seems the only ones that don't know are those people making them. I agree with John, there does seem to be some class IV and VIII happening."
Mike Diamond, Combined Organizations of Numismatic Errors of America, Errorscope columnist and frequent contributor to
Coin World's "Collectors' Clearinghouse," said: "Although the extra design elements are spread over a much larger area than the Minnesota doubled dies, the tilted hub 'sudden release' scenario still is a strong possibility. Then again, without solid knowledge of exactly what is going on in the hubbing press, offset hub doubling is also a possibility. Naturally, that would require more than one hubbing, or at least a jittery sort of single-squeeze hubbing."
Since the 2005-P Oregon, Doubled Die Reverse quarter dollar is found on a coin taken from an Uncirculated Mint set, it might have a lower mintage than circulation-strike varieties on the Minnesota quarter dollars. In a 1998
Coin World arranged VIP tour of the Philadelphia Mint, a Mint official I interviewed stated that coins placed in Mint sets were struck from fresh dies in limited runs before being retired to the vault and earmarked for use to produce circulation coins.
The information given was for Lincoln cents, a denomination that would see a much higher run from a set of dies than
Washington quarter dollars but for the sake of comparison, it was stated that anywhere from the first 100,000 to 200,000 cents were struck under a "little higher tonnage" than normal. That set of dies could strike 1.5 million to 2 million circulation strikes according to that official. Using the upper limit for circulation strikes it suggests that 10 to 20 percent of a given die's capacity for making coins could be reserved for Mint sets.
With the Mint now employing a special Satin or Matte Finish on the coins placed in Uncirculated Mint sets, die-life for Mint set coins could be far lower than previous estimates suggest. To date, a study of the five Satin Finish Mint set doubled die varieties known on the 2005 Minnesota quarter dollars suggests that dies used for Mint set coins no longer get extended into use for circulation strikes as none of the Satin Finish quarter dollar varieties are known on circulation strikes.
As the name implies, the single-squeeze hubbing procedure impresses a complete design into a die with just one pass of the hub. The single-squeeze hubbing process was introduced to U.S. coinage starting in Fiscal Year 1986 at which point it was used for master dies, working hubs and pilot testing for production dies. It was introduced to widespread use of production dies starting in 1997 and phased in for other dies over the next year or so with some exceptions.
Prior to FY 1986, all working dies were created via the multiple hubbing process, which required anywhere from two to a score or more impressions from a hub into a single die. This process required annealing (softening) of a partially completed die in between hubbings and a perfect alignment between the hub and die for all subsequent hubbing to avoid doubling. When the alignment was off for any reason, hub doubling resulted.
From this process was created great numbers of doubled dies recorded by specialists up into the thousands of dies so affected, mostly minor, along with some notable widespread varieties including the famous 1955 and 1972 Lincoln, Doubled Die Obverse cents.
According to a report in
Coin World in 1996, during inaugural ceremonies for the Denver Mint's new die shop,
Coin World News Editor William T. Gibbs was advised by an official that the single-squeeze hubbing process could produce some close spread doubled dies but that it would eliminate those of a wider spread.
Shortly after, Philadelphia Mint officials took the opposite position and have continued to maintain over the years that there was no possibility of doubled dies being created at all from the single-squeeze process. They have consistently stated that none of the varieties submitted to them for examination in recent years were true doubled dies. This included the 1997 Lincoln, Double Ear cent that contains at least 15 areas of doubling in the central regions of the design and the 2004-P Jefferson, Peace Medal 5-cent coin that displays fairly widespread doubling with classic diagnostics. Many in the hobby, including all the doubled die specialists and major grading services, consider these coins bearing hub doubling.
As more and more doubled dies have been found over the past few years, it has become clear that the official Philadelphia Mint position is wrong, and more collectors have started to look for doubled dies again. We suggest readers check all dates and denominations, and on all areas of the coin. Remember, where one doubled die is found others often exist. How many more 2005 Oregon, Doubled Die quarter dollar varieties are out there waiting to be found? How many other
State Quarter dollars bear doubled dies yet to be discovered?
Posted 09/14/2006 11:40 pm
