LDB2345-1950-001 BIE Die Break

Description

An exceptionally complex multi-position die break, LDB2345-1950-001 on the 1950 Lincoln Wheat Cent earns the "LIIIBIEIR" classification in the original Cuds on Coins notation, translated to LDB2345 in their standardized numbering system. This designation indicates simultaneous die breaks spanning positions 2, 3, 4, and 5 within and around the LIBERTY inscription — a four-position break pattern that is substantially rarer than the standard single-position BIE. Cross-referenced as Cohen 50-BA7, the Hardy catalog does not list this variety, suggesting it may have been discovered or reported after Hardy's compilation cutoff. The four-position span means the die crack network extended across most of the LIBERTY inscription rather than creating an isolated vertical bar between just two letters. On the 1950 Philadelphia Wheat Cent, Victor David Brenner's raised LIBERTY sits along the right obverse field, and when die fatigue propagates cracks through the recessed channels between multiple consecutive letters, the resulting raised bars on struck coins create a dramatic visual effect — essentially a continuous or near-continuous raised ridge spanning the spaces between L-I, I-B, B-E, and E-R. The 1950 Philadelphia cent mintage of 272,635,000 provided ample die usage to develop the extensive deterioration necessary for a four-position break. Collectors of BIE varieties prize multi-position specimens for their visual impact and scarcity relative to the common single-bar BIE, and LDB2345 varieties represent the upper end of the complexity spectrum within this collecting specialty.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Keith Christenson
• Cross references: Cohen 50-BA7, Hardy Not Listed. 03/15/2017.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References