1988P-1DER-003T Trail Die Reverse

Description

Found by Louis Schaeffer of Maryland, 1988P-1DER-003T on the 1988 Philadelphia Lincoln Memorial cent exhibits isolated trail lines on the right-side corners of C, E, and N in the word CENT, oriented at a 100-degree offset from the design's vertical axis. The isolation of trail lines to specific letter corners — rather than the broader step distortion seen in WS-type trail dies — earns this specimen the "T" (tilted) designation, indicating that the hub's contact during die manufacture produced discrete directional traces on individual design elements rather than sweeping distortion across architectural features. The 100-degree offset places the hub displacement roughly perpendicular to the coin's vertical axis, pulling letter details toward the east-southeast — a direction visible in the rightward extension of trail traces from CENT's letter corners. This specimen in Stage B (mid-die state) shows two parallel scratches in front of Lincoln's forehead on the obverse, while the reverse presents no significant markers beyond the trail lines themselves. Louis Schaeffer of Maryland contributed multiple trail die discoveries for the 1988-P date across both obverse and reverse catalogs, reflecting sustained examination of Philadelphia cent production from this vintage. Struck at the Philadelphia Mint on copper-plated zinc planchets composed of 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper, weighing 2.5 grams at 19mm diameter.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Louis Schaeffer
• Expert attribution by Trail Dies

External References