1972P DDO-003 (stage A?)

[jcuve]

Just wanted to confirm this was a 1972P DDO-003, stage a. From what I can tell all the stage A markers are present. In the CONECA files I found myself confused, the first line in stage A, says, “Two parallel die scratches Northeast from 1 in date – EMDS.” All the lines below in stage A say EDS, and the stage B EMDS markers (such as the east-west scratches) are not present. Is this a typo and a stage A or is this stage B?

[JamesWiles]

Jason:
Your coin appears to be stage A. Each stage has obverse and reverse markers. Sometimes the die state will be different for each die. Such is the case with stage A of DDO-003. The obverse is EMDS while the reverse is EDS. In other words the reverse hasn't worn as much as the obverse in this stage. By stage B the reverse has caught up to the obverse. In stage E the reverse die has been changed and again is EDS. Since I don't list re-occuring markers in each stage, the best way to "read" the stages is to start at the bottom and work your way up. In other words I only list the markers for each stage that are new. So, when you read from the bottom, as soon as you find a match to the markers on your coin you have identified the stage of your coin.

[jcuve]

Thanks James, I think understand that as a general rule one reads up and finds the stage. And I see where I made my mistake in that it never says Obverse is EDS, it just says EMDS and then refers to the Reverse as EDS...

Stage A:
Two parallel die scratches Northeast from 1 in date – EMDS
Short die scratch North from the upper Left E of LIBERTY
Short die gouge below front point of bust next to rim
Reverse is EDS

[rockdude]

Thanks, this will make it easier to find this variety.

[coinartist]

Nice pics and a cool coin.

CA