1971-D Kennedy Half DDO?
ProofCollection
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I just picked up this PCGS MS67 1971-D Kennedy Half. I see that the mint mark is rather unusual so I started to check to see if it is a DDO. Looking at the pics on Variety Vista, it was hard to find definitive markers for the DDO varieties. Is there a better source to identify the markers to look for.
At this point I'm pretty sure it's not DDO as I can't find any other real signs of doubling on the obverse, but the mint mark looks fishy. Sorry my pictures are awful.
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Sorry, not seeing anything that would indicate it's a DDO.
The mint mark on your coin has experienced post mint damage (it has been hit), but is not doubled. In any case, the mint marks on pre-1990 coins would not be doubled on a doubled die variety, as they were added to the die by hand after hubbing.
Your statement about VarietyVista is incorrect and leads me to believe that you either do not understand how to navigate the site or do not really understand what a doubled die is.
It may be best for you to start at the beginning and learn the basics of what doubled dies are and how they are made:
https://doubleddie.com/58222.html
Thanks. You guys are correct, I couldn't figure out how to navigate the V V website effectively.
Anyway, thanks for confirming my suspicions. I wasn't sure if it was post-minting damage on the mint mark as it is an MS67 and doesn't have a lot of marks or damage in other places.
The 1971-D DDO's are available at the page below - click the individual links on this page to see full photo coverage of each DDO:
http://varietyvista.com/12 Kennedy Halves/DDOs 1971-D.htm
That's the page I was on, but it wasn't clear to me what the distinctive markers were. Sure there are tons of photos but in my experience with Morgan VAMs, all coins might not match in every respect so it was difficult to know what key items to look at amongst the 21 photos for DDO-001, many of which did not show anything distinctive (IMO)
Not all doubled dies are equally obvious. Some can be pretty subtle. VarietyVista normally tells you the best place to look, as they do for the DDO-001:
"Strong spread on WE TRUST with medium rotational spread on IN GOD, LIBER of LIBERTY, and hair at the top of the head."
Looking for split serifs can be helpful. There is not always obvious serif splitting on every letter, but look at "N" and "S" in the photos below:
What do they mean by "strong spread?"
That refers to the spread of the doubling. If there is a strong spread, that means the doubling is farther apart. Personally, I would not say that the spread is very strong on the DDO-001.
You had asked about other sources of information to look at - https://doubleddie.com/ is one, and the Cherrypicker's guide is another. There are also more specialized books on each series that cover doubled die varieties.
If you're having trouble recognizing doubled dies, I'd recommend looking up some of the more obvious varieties in the Cherrypicker's guide - those that have the strongest spread to the doubling - then perhaps tackle the more subtle ones when you have more experience.
@ProofCollection... One more vote for damaged MM...and no DDO.... I like the Kennedy varieties, but really stopped checking for the minor ones.... Just a personal decision. Cheers, RicKO