I was looking through about 60 or 70 1984 Lincoln cents I set aside to look at later from a few boxes I dug through and found something I think to be a double die that I haven't seen anywhere else. All I can find are pics of the double ear, but I think I found something to the 2 'O Clock of the lower ear lobe. Is this a double die? None of my other cents have anything close to this and it's not on any site I've seen. Ideas? Thanks! EAR CLOSE UP EAR 1 EAR 2 EAR 3 Camera doesn't have a macro setting, sorry for the links.
I doubt it is a doubleD die (but I suppose it could be). I believe in 1984 working dies were still made using the multiple-squeeze method (which means most doubling would appear near the rim, not the center). The single-squeeze hubbing method virtually eliminated that kind of doubling but it created a new kind of doubling near the center of the coin.
Unless it's a new DDO, it's not the double Ear as seen here : http://www.coppercoins.com/diesearch.php?date=1984&date1=1984&thistype=dodr&page=0
I think what you may be seeing is the same thing you see on other parts of the coin, which is gas bubbles trapped beneath the copper plating. Very common, especially on the early copper plated cents.
They weren't using single-squeeze then, but that still does not preclude doubling near the center of the die, primarily via Class 4 offset hub doubling as we see with so many of the doubled eyelids in the Lincoln series. There is a doubled earlobe variety for 1984 and it's one of the most popular of the series.
The double ear is what I was looking for actually when I saw the J shaped mark the the right of the bottom lobe. Didn't see it on any other coins I have and thought I might have had something unrecognized before. Oh well, this Christmas puppy just got stomped to death, lol. Thanks for the feedback, all. Guess I'll keep digging.
Wexler lists another doubled earlobe for 1984 aside from DDO-001 as WDDO-008 that shows class IV doubling to the northeast.
Ah! Restored hope. This would be my first variety find aside from a WAM. I need to get some better reference books. I'll set it aside and do some more research... I'm going to a coin shop someone on here suggested that has a lot of books later this week. I'll post if I find anything of interest. Thanks for the lead!
