1974D-100DEO-001 Trail Die Obverse

Description

Cataloged as 1974D-100DEO-001 by the Trail Dies project and discovered by Cal Goddard, this trail die obverse variety appears on a 1974-D Eisenhower dollar struck at the Denver Mint. The Eisenhower dollar, produced from 1971 through 1978, was the last large-format dollar coin in the United States series, measuring 38.1 mm in diameter and weighing 22.68 grams in the standard copper-nickel clad composition used for circulation strikes. The obverse features Frank Gasparro's portrait of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, while the reverse depicts an eagle landing on the Moon, referencing the Apollo 11 mission. Denver struck 45,517,000 Eisenhower dollars in 1974, a substantial quantity for this denomination. Trail die varieties are created through unintended contact between a working die and another die, hub, or tooling component, transferring faint ghost impressions onto the die surface. This specimen is documented at Stage B with the obverse at mid die state; no specific die markers are noted, though the mint mark position itself can be used as a reference for identifying this particular die. The reverse is also at mid die state with no specific markers noted. The relative scarcity of trail die varieties on Eisenhower dollars compared to smaller denominations like cents reflects the lower production volumes and the larger die sizes involved, which may have reduced the frequency of incidental die-to-die contact during the manufacturing and handling process. The Eisenhower dollar's large surface area and detailed design elements make trail die impressions, when present, potentially more spread out and requiring careful examination across the full obverse field to detect the ghost design traces characteristic of this variety type.

Die Markers

• Stage “B “, obverse is MDS – none noted. The mint mark position can be used as a reference for this particular die.
• Reverse is MDS – none noted.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Cal Goddard
• Expert attribution by Trail Dies

External References