1992 Type I Counter Clash CCLTI-1C-1992-01

Description

Strong, offset clash events on this 1992 Philadelphia Lincoln cent produced a counter clash — a Type I variety in the MadDieClashes catalog — where a secondary impression of Lincoln's left lapel materialized through a double-transfer mechanism. In a typical die clash, obverse and reverse dies strike each other without a planchet between them, leaving each die carrying an incuse impression of the opposing design. A Type I counter clash takes this one step further: when two clash events occur at different angles, the first clash's impression on the die interferes with the second, creating a ghost-like secondary image offset from the primary design. On CCLTI-1C-1992-01, the visible counterclash manifests as a secondary image of the left lapel on Lincoln's jacket, displaced from its normal position by the angular offset between the successive clashes. This coin, from the collection of Joe Koelling, documents one of the more instructive examples of how compound clash geometry can produce design artifacts that exist nowhere in the original hub — features born entirely from the interaction of multiple error events rather than from any single misalignment. Struck at Philadelphia on copper-plated zinc planchets, 2.5 grams, 19mm, plain edge.

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