1976-D Kennedy DDO 1 1

[blinewalker]

Hello, found this today in a mint set, it reminds me of the 76-s DDO but this is a Denver, figured I'd share it with everyone and get some thoughts 

[J P M]

That is a tough one to tell. It could be some of the devices have a double serif . I have also seen the same look from reflection of to much light on a USB scope and when you change the coin angle the doubling goes away. I could not find this look in any past listings of a 76 D .

Edited June 25, 2023 by J P M

[powermad5000]

I would say from the "mushy" appearance of the doubling that it is some form of mechanical doubling or shelf doubling. I also could not find any certified variety listing for a 1976 D DDO Kennedy Half.

[EagleRJO]

On 6/25/2023 at 4:46 AM, blinewalker said:

... it reminds me of the 76-s DDO but this is a Denver ...

I see a listing for the 1976-S, but not for the 1976-D Kennedy 50C, as others also could not find.  In the almost 50 years since these coins were struck I find it hard to believe that the op's coin could be a DDO but there has not been a single other DDO found.

Plus, if you look closely at some of the letters it becomes apparent that there is no notch at the intersections and there is a step like appearance on the sides.  See the attached Wexler's listing for the known 50C DDO's (with some close ups of the op's coin lettering added).  Same results from checking NGC VarietyPlus and Variety Vista.

So, it looks like die deterioration or machine type of doubling (MD).  Also see the attached infographic which can be used with the coin in-hand to verify it's MD.

[Sandon]

   Usually, when someone claims to have discovered an unlisted doubled die on these forums, it is easily seen to be a case of strike doubling, die deterioration doubling, or just the poster's imagination.  I'm not sure about this 1976-D half dollar, which in some places appears to resemble a doubled die. It may be worthwhile to have it examined in-hand by an expert, perhaps at CONECA or doubleddie.com. (I know that Wexler himself has retired.) I wouldn't send it to a grading service without an independent expert's opinion that it is a doubled die. Does anyone have suggestions as to whom@blinewalker should show it?

[Coinbuf]

On 6/25/2023 at 3:02 PM, Sandon said:

Does anyone have suggestions as to whom@blinewalker should show it?

The best course of action is to post these photos on the CONECA forum and ask if they think it is worthy of an in-hand review as a new discovery.   I suspect that this is just very deceptive die deterioration, but that is how I would proceed.

[EagleRJO]

@blinewalker before you go through all that I would recommend looking at the coin in-hand with good lighting and a 40x loupe or scope, and turn it at different angles to compare the coin with the infographic I posted above as I and some others do suspect it's common MD.

[R__Rash]

On 6/25/2023 at 4:15 PM, Coinbuf said:

The best course of action is to post these photos on the CONECA forum and ask if they think it is worthy of an in-hand review as a new discovery.   I suspect that this is just very deceptive die deterioration, but that is how I would proceed.

With what Coinbuff has said here, you already have pictures, just go in to Coneca.org, select forums from the home page, in forums go to die variety forum and post. It s really no more than you have done here but if they agree with your points of interest and the photos are sufficient they will describe the path to attribution in the Coneca Services. Be patient it takes time because they are all volunteers and of course the usual error hunting crowds.

with that said I believe you will hear similar to RJO’s response.

Edited June 26, 2023 by R__Rash

[blinewalker]

Here's my 1976-S 40% silver graded by ANACS at a MS65 DDO-001, compare they Y and the IN GOD to the Denver and they could alomost be twins. The polish doubling got me a coulpe times when I fisrt started my collection but I hope that I'm past that . 

[blinewalker]

[blinewalker]

EagleRJO, the 1919 Mercury dime wasn't discovered until the early 80's  and wasn't published until 2015, so it doesnt seem out of the ordinary that a 46 year old coin would just be found 

[J P M]

On 6/25/2023 at 10:17 PM, blinewalker said:

Here's my 1976-S 40% silver graded by ANACS at a MS65 DDO-001, compare they Y and the IN GOD to the Denver and they could alomost be twins. The polish doubling got me a coulpe times when I fisrt started my collection but I hope that I'm past that . 

That is almost like it is from the same die, close anyway , Maybe the San Francisco proof die got worn out and they sent it to Denver.

[Sandon]

   

On 6/26/2023 at 8:31 AM, J P M said:

Maybe the San Francisco proof die got worn out and they sent it to Denver.

   For the benefit of those who don't realize that @J P M is joking, this really isn't possible, as the San Francisco die would have had an "S" mint mark, and this "D" mint coin has no evidence of an over-mintmark, which would have involved a trip to the Philadelphia mint at that time. (I don't recall there being any over-mintmarked U.S. coin after the 1955-D, D over S nickel anyway.) However, the apparent notching and sharp doubling on some of the lettering of the motto and the "Y" in "LIBERTY" is why I'm not willing to dismiss the possibility that this coin is a doubled die.

[EagleRJO]

On 6/25/2023 at 10:28 PM, blinewalker said:

EagleRJO, the 1919 Mercury dime wasn't discovered until the early 80's  and wasn't published until 2015, so it doesnt seem out of the ordinary that a 46 year old coin would just be found

True, there are always exceptions to a general rule, and this may be one of those situations.  From what I am seeing I don't think it's a 1976-D DDO, but you really need the coin in-hand as pics can be deceptive.  Did you get a chance to lock at the coin with some good lighting and magnification to compare it with the infographic I posted above?

On 6/26/2023 at 2:06 PM, Sandon said:

For the benefit of those who don't realize that @J P M is joking, this really isn't possible, as the San Francisco die would have had an "S" mint mark, and this "D" mint coin has no evidence of an over-mintmark

Well, that wouldn't be possible, but doesn't the Philly mint make the master hubs for the various other mints, like San Fran and Denver.  So if they made a 1976 50C master hub for San Fran that had a DDO then isn't it's entirely possible they made the same 1976 DDO master hub for Denver ? (yea, yea, I know, just spitballing).

On 6/26/2023 at 2:06 PM, Sandon said:

However, the apparent notching and sharp doubling on some of the lettering of the motto and the "Y" in "LIBERTY" is why I'm not willing to dismiss the possibility that this coin is a doubled die.

I don't know, I'm not seeing defined notching at the letters serif, as there is say with the "Y" on the 1976-S 50C DDO, like with the op's 1976-S posted above.  See the attached comparison with the op's 1976-D on the left and the op's 1976-S DDO on the right.

Edited June 27, 2023 by EagleRJO