1983 Type I Counter Clash CCLTI-1C-1983-03

Description

Contributed by Mike Ivanavich, CCLTI-1C-1983-03 documents the third Type I counter clash on the 1983 Philadelphia Lincoln Memorial cent, distinguished by two offset clash events that produced counterclashed impressions of multiple design elements. The counterclash manifests on the obverse as a displaced impression of Lincoln's forehead in the field east of its normal position, along with transferred impressions of the bow tie and Adam's apple — creating a ghostly secondary portrait fragment extending beyond the primary Lincoln bust. These counterclashed elements traveled a complete round trip through the die clash process: originally part of the obverse design, they were imprinted onto the reverse die during the first clash, then transferred back at a shifted position during the second clash event. The presence of three distinct counterclashed features — forehead, bow tie, and Adam's apple — indicates that a substantial portion of the Lincoln portrait's incuse impression on the reverse die was re-transferred during the second clash, mapping the angular relationship between the two clash events. The offset between the counterclashed forehead and the normal forehead measures the magnitude of the positional shift between contacts, making this a diagnostic example of multi-element counter clash geometry. Attribution by MadDieClashes.

External References