LDB4-1957-004 BIE Die Break

Description

Cross-referenced as Cohen 57-B542 and Hardy 57P-4FL+14, this BIE die break on the 1957 Lincoln Wheat Cent produces a raised vertical bar between the B and E of LIBERTY, mimicking the appearance of an extra letter "I" inserted into the word. The "FL+" designation in the Hardy catalog indicates full breaks that extend below the lowest level of the letters — meaning the die crack penetrates deeper than just the recessed letter channels, reaching into the field area beneath the baseline of the LIBERTY inscription. The LDB4 prefix in the Cuds on Coins numbering system classifies the specific break configuration, with the numeral 4 denoting the position and geometry of the fracture pattern. BIE die breaks are among the most collected minor die varieties on Lincoln Cents because they are visually distinctive, relatively affordable, and span the entire run of the series from 1909 forward, allowing collectors to assemble date-and-mintmark sets of the phenomenon. The 1957 Philadelphia Wheat Cent was produced in the penultimate year of the wheat reverse design before the Lincoln Memorial reverse debuted in 1959, making it one of the later dates available for BIE collectors focusing on the wheat ear era. Victor David Brenner's obverse design places LIBERTY in raised letters along the right field, and the recessed channels between letters create natural stress concentration points in the die steel where fatigue cracks preferentially initiate and propagate during extended production runs, eventually producing the characteristic vertical bar that defines the BIE phenomenon.

Attribution History

• Discovered by JC Stevens
• Cross references: Cohen 57-B542, Hardy 57P-4FL+14. 0720/2015.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References