2008 P AZ 25c DDO

[russellhome]

I found another one today -- this time a nice 2008 P Arizona DDO...



For those of you that have not tried searching the state quarters, these are actually pretty easy to spot. All you need is a 10x loop, a lamp, reasonable eyesight, lots of quarters to search and patients. Get lots of light in the area along where the ear meets the neck and look for some sort of bump under or behind the ear. Also check the area under the ear for clash marks. As you can see from all of my posts lately, locating varieties in state quarters is not that hard to do (at least here on the east coast with lots of P mint quarters).

Here is an example of what not to look for...



If you search a lot of quarters, you will run into many examples of this. It is mechanical/strike doubling (aka MD). This doubling is not in the die. The doubling effect is caused by part of the design being shaved off the struck coin during the striking process. It may look more impressive than many of the 'Earlobe' varieties I've posted, but it is pretty common and of no value other than 25 cents. For me, they just go in the junk pile. I have seen several of these on eBay being sold falsely as DDOs -- so beware.

Another clue that this is MD is that other high spots in the area are affected by the same damage (see the hair above and behind the ear).



One other thing that can fool you when looking for doubled earlobes is contact marks (post strike damage). Sometimes the ear is hit in such a way that it looks alot like a doubled earlobe. Looking at the coin from different angles can help you decide if what you see is post strike damage or not. Good luck with your searching. If you find anything in the 'State Quarters', please post it here. It is always good to know what to look for.

[mustbebob]

I have found quite a few doubled earlobes over the years on The State Quarters. Do you have a list you are maintaining that shows all of what you have found recently? I would like to do some comparisons. I will gather up my list shortly.
Interesting enough, the so call 1999P Delaware 'Spitting Horse' (Die crack from the horses mouth), has 3 different dies where the crack originates from the mouth in the same place, but terminates in different places. I will take pics of those also.
Continued good luck on your searching!

[russellhome]

No - I have not been keeping a list... But that's a good idea. I just did a quick search of my collection and put one together. Not all of these have been examined and officially attributed yet, but here is a list of what I have found or bought:

Rhode Island P -Possible Earlobe DDO - Submitted to Wexler
Pennsylvania P - Possible DDO (back side of ear)
North Carolina P - Extra Hair DDO - WDDO-001
Wisconsin P - Decent Dbl Earlobe - may be unlisted
Michigan P - Decent Dbl Earlobe - may be unlisted
Minnesota P - Minor Dbl Earlobe - WDDO-004 mated with a listed WDDR-109
Minnesota P - Minor Dbl Earlobe - WDDO-005
Minnesota P - Bold Dbl Earlobe - WDDO-006
Colorado P - Minor Dbl Earlobe - WDDO-002
Colorado P - Decent Dbl Earlobe - may be unlisted
Oklahoma P - Decent Dbl Earlobe - CONECA DD0-001
Wyoming P SMS - Very Minor Dbl Earlobe - WDDO-002 mated with WDDR-016
Idaho P - Minor Dbl Earlobe - may be unlisted
Arizona P - Minor Dbl Earlobe - may be unlisted
Hawaii P - Minor Dbl Earlobe - unlisted

There are others that I have seen in CW, DVN and on Variety Vista that I don't have. Most likely most of the ones you have I don't have. I think it will be quite some time before all of the 1999 to 2008 'State Quarters' die varieties are known. In time, it might turn out that one or more of these DDOs exist for every state design. Hopefully someday we'll have a reference guide to most of these. Until then, I guess the only way to know what you have is to send it it for attribution.

[mustbebob]

That's a good start for the list, and I appreciate you posting it. I am not purposely going out and getting rolls of quarters to search, but I am going through the ones I have collected since the beginning of the program (1 roll each of P and D mint for each state). I am also looking for trails, and other anomalies. I finished with the 1999 coins yesterday and I came up with 2 different doubled earlobes (Delaware P, and Pennsylvania P) I also found those 3 different Delaware spitting horse dies, and 3 different minor trails dies (BJ's gonna love this once I finish). Back when the Minnesota doubled dies was going strong, I found 3 different doubled earlobes. I would like to do some comparisons on mine and yours some time down the road, but I believe John Wexler already has mine listed as WDDO-001, 002, and 003.

[russellhome]

I've added a few more recent finds to the DDO list (new/updated ones in bold)...

Delaware P - Decent Dbl Earlobe - WDDO-001
Rhode Island P -Possible Minor Earlobe DDO
Pennsylvania P - Possible DDO (back side of ear)
Pennsylvania P - minor Earlobe DDO
North Carolina P - Extra Hair DDO - WDDO-001
Wisconsin P - Decent Dbl Earlobe - WDDO-001
Michigan P - Decent Dbl Earlobe - may be unlisted
Minnesota P - Minor Dbl Earlobe - WDDO-004 mated with a listed WDDR-109
Minnesota P - Minor Dbl Earlobe - WDDO-005
Minnesota P - Bold Dbl Earlobe - WDDO-006
Oregon P - Possible Dbl Earlobe - (also has die clash marks)
Colorado P - Minor Dbl Earlobe - WDDO-002
Colorado P - Decent Dbl Earlobe - may be unlisted
Oklahoma P - Decent Dbl Earlobe - CONECA DD0-001
Wyoming P SMS - Very Minor Dbl Earlobe - WDDO-002 mated with WDDR-016
Idaho P - Minor Dbl Earlobe - may be unlisted
Arizona P - Minor Dbl Earlobe - may be unlisted
New Mexico - Decent Dbl Earlobe - not the one listed on Variety Vista
Hawaii P - Minor Dbl Earlobe - unlisted

My recent circulated quarter rolls searching spree has resulted in more DDRs - but most of them are minor varieties...

Oregon 25c decent 'Extra Rock' DDR (found 1)
Minnesota 25c minor 'Extra Tree' DDR (found only 1, believe it or not)
Wyoming 25 DDRs (found 3/4 of a roll so far - most very minor)
Die Clashes - (1/2 a roll - NM, OR, WA, NC, AK, DE) I tossed away several minor clashes -- ones with not enough there to be of any interest.

[mustbebob]

I still haven't searched the remainder of the rolls I have (2005-2008). I did find a Florida trails die earlier this week though. As soon as I get back to searching, I will include my list here also.

[junglistOn1]

Poss. add to your list

I was looking through your list and want to know if this should be added to your list. It is a 2000 D Maryland poss. DD earlobe. Thanks for the help.

[russellhome]

It is hard to tell from the photo - but it looks like an isolated case of MD to me. In my searches, those are the toughest ones to positively ID. Most of the double earlobe DDOs look like a rounded drop at the bottom of the ear -- but not all of them. I've got a pretty good stack of "maybe or maybe nots" and most of them are cases of either a minor DDO or minor MD limited to only part of the ear. I just sent in another lot to Wexler and one of them is probably a 50/50 shot of being MD and not DDO. We will see.