My dad had a little over a hundred JNs. A lot of them have a reflection around the outline of the face, however there are a handful that look like there is separation between the outline and the face. These are the only ones that I noticed this effect with and I didn't change the lighting for any of these. Are any of these actual DDOs or is this some other effect? 1948 (only slightly on the eyebrow and maybe the 4 in the date?): 1949-D (significant along the face and hairline): 1951-D (maybe around the mouth and nose): 1952 (on the nose?): 1953 (maybe slightly on nose / forehead?): 1954 (chin, nose, forehead, and hairline?): 1959 (again along the face outline and this one has what seems like an outline on the reverse building):
Hmm... I read the reference sites you all gave me and I understand what the difference is but I guess I don't get how to tell visually (except for really dramatic ones) between die doubling and mechanical / die deterioration.
Two things I’ve picked up from those with more experience here at coin talk are: MD will result in a flat a shelf like appearance for the second image. Someone around here has an EXCELLENT graphic showing this. MD will also result in no change to width of the doubled devices. With actual doubling the devices with the doubling will usually be thicker than normal. I don’t usually do much with varieties and errors and such, but when I have wanted to check things out these tidbits let me do a quick search and figure out if I need to go further.
As Collecting Nut states, time and practice will make it easier. For Jefferson Nickels, I use Brian’s Variety Coins to look up DDOs and DDRs. You’ll note most doubling occurs in the devices rather than the profile or building. There are many varieties so finding doubles is not overly difficult. Good luck!
