1991 Radical MAD Die Clash MDC-1C-1991-03

Description

Discovered by Aisha Shahid, MDC-1C-1991-03 presents a curved dent just to the right of the Y in LIBERTY on the 1991 Lincoln Memorial cent obverse, with the top of the I from UNITED visible on the inside of the curve. This pairing of a curved impression with an identifiable letter fragment provides a clear diagnostic for attributors: the curve corresponds to a portion of the reverse die's rim or design border that struck the obverse die surface during the radical misalignment event, while the I from UNITED confirms which reverse design elements were in contact at that position. The proximity of this clash mark to the Y in LIBERTY places it in a similar obverse region as MDC-1C-1991-02, yet the specific letter transfers differ (U in UNITED for MDC-02 versus I in UNITED for MDC-03), indicating that these two varieties resulted from separate clash events with different degrees of misalignment. The 1991 date's five Radical MAD die clashes represent a concentration unusual for a single year, suggesting that conditions at the Philadelphia Mint during 1991 production were particularly conducive to severe die misalignment during installation or operation. Struck at Philadelphia on copper-plated zinc planchets composed of 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper, weighing 2.5 grams and measuring 19mm.

External References