1987D-1DER-003WS Trail Die Reverse

Description

Continuing the pattern of 180-degree wide spread trail dies documented for the 1987-D reverse, 1987D-1DER-003WS narrows the visible trail effect to light step deviation across columns 5 through 7 — a three-column span that is slightly shorter than the four-column range seen on 001WS and 002WS. This progressive reduction in the breadth of affected columns across the first three wide spread entries may reflect diminishing hub-shift magnitudes across different die-manufacturing sessions, though it could equally represent variation in how aggressively each die was used before its trail characteristics were documented. The absence of column fluting on 003WS, combined with the narrower step deviation zone, places this variety at the mildest end of the 1987-D wide spread reverse spectrum. Stage C at late die state is confirmed, with no obverse die markers recorded. The reverse carries a more elaborate marker set: a die gouge near the rim over the T of UNITED and three small die gouges clustered in the O of ONE. The triple-gouge pattern in the O of ONE is a particularly distinctive diagnostic — few dies develop three separate surface defects within a single letter, making this marker set difficult to confuse with any other variety in the census. Struck at Denver on copper-plated zinc planchets (97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper) at 2.5 grams and 19mm, from the 1987-D mintage of 4,007,632,740 cents.

External References