LDB3-1987-002 BIE Die Break

Description

A composite entry in the BIE die break census, LDB3-1987-002 on the 1987 Lincoln Memorial cent is cross-referenced with three distinct Hardy Index classifications — 3F+ (cataloged 04/21/2020), 3EH+ (cataloged 08/14/2023), and 3EL+ (cataloged 09/28/2015) — suggesting this listing documents multiple die states or separate dies that share a catalog number. The three Hardy Index designations describe different break extents within the same positional space between B and E of LIBERTY: "F+" indicates a full break extending both above the highest and below the lowest letter levels, creating the most dramatic BIE appearance possible; "EH+" denotes a break extending three-quarters or more above the highest letter level; and "EL+" indicates extension three-quarters or more below the lowest letter level. These varying classifications may represent a single die photographed at different stages of crack propagation — a crack that began as an EL+ break extending below the letters could have grown over continued die use into an F+ full break spanning above and below — or they may document distinct dies with similar but non-identical break characteristics grouped under one catalog entry. The BIE variety phenomenon results from the specific design geometry of the LIBERTY legend on Lincoln cents, where the vertical strokes of adjacent letters create stress concentration points in the die steel between them. Struck at Philadelphia on copper-plated zinc planchets (97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper) at 2.5 grams and 19mm, from the 1987 mintage of 4,682,466,931 cents.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Mike Durney
• Cross references: Hardy Index 3F+. 04/21/2020. Cross references: Hardy Index 3EH+. 08/14/2023. Cross references: Hardy Index 3EL+. 09/28/2015.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References