2023- D Lincoln Cent DDO???

[Pennyman44]

I see doubling on the motto, Liberty and Date but is it hub doubling??

[occnumis2021]

a swing and a miss.

[Dutch-Tigger]

Agree with OCC,
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[thomas_benton_dehart]

Just to chime in, I have been having similar issues distinguishing DDO's on 2021 Shield cents (my current study). Most of the coins I had set aside for further study have proven to be die deterioration doubling and worthless. As Dutch-Tigger's post illustrates, this is understood as devices where the top most, raised portion, is thinner than normal.

The apparent doubling, is simply the slope from normal to thin device size.

The best tool I have found for observing this is by overlaying the image of a sample coin over the image of a well-struck example. Once you have accounted for rotation and size (using the same amount of zoom helps minimize this), the examples should more or less line up. I found that my deteriorated die coin wasn't enlarging the devices in any way. There was no excess metal.

On your coin, I think there are two areas where you are perceiving doubling that is, in fact, deterioration.

1. The Y in LIBERTY. It appears the left fork of the Y is considerably thicker than the right fork of the Y. This is true, but my belief is that the left fork is "spec" while the right fork is less well struck, less than a "spec" amount of metal. Meaning the disproportion is most likely die deterioration.
2. The 0 in 2023. It appears the bottom left and top right of the 0 are thin and the bottom right and top left of the 0 are thicker. This probably creates an asymmetrical appearance that is consistently asymmetrical while rotating the coin. This is more of the same. The thicker portions of the 0 are "spec" thickness, the thinner portions are less than "spec" due to die deterioration.

I think shield cents are tricky. In the hotspot areas like the Y in LIBERTY, and the numbers of the date, die deterioration is rampant. It also tends to have a sloped, rather than shelved, appearance. This combined with some very negligible doubled dies that have been attributed on the more popular websites creates a situation where all to often we aren't sure whether we are seeing a DD or not.

This is where image overlay can really make a huge difference. It did for me anyways.

Link to the relevant article on coppercoins.com: https://www.coppercoins.com/edu/overlay.php

Thanks,
Thomas