LDB4-1955S-014 BIE Die Break

Description

Fourteenth BIE die break cataloged on a 1955 San Francisco Mint Lincoln Wheat Cent, this variety was documented on July 24, 2017, and is cross-referenced as Cohen Not Listed and Hardy 55S-ALE+1. The Hardy code places the fracture at a specific position within the LIBERTY inscription related to the A, L, and E letter region, and the shared Hardy position code with entry LDB4-1955S-019 (also Hardy 55S-ALE+1) suggests these two breaks may occupy the same general inter-letter zone but represent distinct fracture events on different dies — distinguished by additional positional details not captured in the abbreviated Hardy code. BIE die breaks develop when the thin wall of die steel separating two adjacent incuse letter cavities fails under repeated compressive loading, creating a void that fills with planchet metal to produce a raised vertical bar on the struck coin. The San Francisco Mint's 1955 cent production was the smallest of the three facilities, with approximately 44.6 million coins struck, resulting in fewer die pairs consumed and correspondingly fewer opportunities for BIE formation. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins, this fourteenth S-mint BIE for 1955 demonstrates that even lower-production facilities generate meaningful catalogs of die varieties. The "Not Listed" Cohen reference indicates this variety awaits integration into the Cohen numbering system. The 1955-S Wheat Cent is among the final San Francisco small-denomination issues before the facility temporarily ceased cent production, lending additional collector interest to varieties from this date.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Earl M
• Cross references: Cohen Not Listed, Hardy 55S-ALE+1. 07/24/2017.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References