Hi! I picked up this 1932 Eagle mostly as a bullion coin, but I thought the history was interesting...the final circulating gold coins before FDR called in the gold and we entered the era of currency depreciation. This particular coin is unusual in that it's actually circulated...maybe someone carried it around in his pocket for a few years after gold stopped circulating? I see Breen lists a couple of variants of the 1932 Eagle; in particular Breen 7136: To my eye, and even under a magnifying glass, I wouldn't notice anything. But this enlarged scan does show traces of doubling on the left. Most obvious on the "GO" in "GOD" and the "TR" in "TRUST" and the trough of the "U" in "United", and perhaps the crossbar on the "T" in "TEN". I'm assuming something this subtle would be a curiosity rather than valuable. I wouldn't even count on its being rare (even though Breen says it is, if it's a 7136); more likely something this subtle mostly passes unnoticed. So is this a Breen 7136? Does this sort of variety interest many people? To see the doubling, you'll need to hover over the reverse image until it enlarges.
Ok I have to ask a rookie question, what is the difference between a double die and machine doubling?
One of the diagnostics used to identify doubled die coins are what they call split serifs or notched serifs. And it appears this coin has that. In the pics it is most noticeable to me on the T & E in TEN, and maybe on the G in GOD. I looked, briefly, for diagnostics mentioned about this particular coin but couldn't find any. Doubling is however mentioned being on the TEN in auction records I found. I don't know what Breen says specifically about this coin, but it looks like a genuine doubled die to me. At this point about all I could suggest would be sending it in to have it confirmed.
As the name suggest a doubled die occurs when the die is made. It happens because a die is, or was, hubbed twice. Meaning the die blank was pressed into the hub twice. On the second hubbing the die shifted just a little and that shifting is what creates 2 images in the die. The hallmarks of a doubled die are that the edges of doubling will be rounded over and have split serifs. Mechanical doubling occurs when the coin is struck and not during the die making process. The dies can shift, or bounce ever so slightly during the strike. This movement causes the design on the die to shear to one side or the other, shifting the image just a bit. Mechanical doubling produces a flat, shelf like second image instead of the rounded over image of a doubled die. And mechanical doubling will not have split serifs.
