You can see there is slight doubling on the top of the letters. Here you can really only see it on the B. So is this machine doubling? What tells you what it is. What could this be worth? It is a 1946 D wheat cent.
Do you see all of the striations pointing toward the rim? Those are indicative of die deterioration. Chris
I do not believe this is an example of machine doubling. It looks more like a metal flow issue on a worn die. Machine doubling occurs while the planchet metal is in the lettering (and devices) of the die, and the die shifts while the planchet does not. Machine doubling is the shearing of the metal. This can happen when the die shifts while the planchet is held firmly in place by the collar, or when the coin is ejecting before the dies are open (also called ejection doubling). Under magnification, machine doubling most frequently appears as a shelf of metal remaining after the shearing but can take on other strange appearances.
