1993D-1DER-023WS Trail Die Reverse

Description

Jean Lee's first discovery in the 1993-D trail die census uses Lincoln's coat as a coordinate system: the obverse die gouge sits on the coat line, even with the mint mark. This kind of positional reference — using two design elements simultaneously to triangulate a defect's location — is a hallmark of careful variety cataloging. The coat line is a long, roughly vertical element on Lincoln's portrait, and "even with the mint mark" fixes the vertical position along that line by referencing the small D punched into the field to Lincoln's right. Together, these two references place the gouge within a very small area, no more than a fraction of a millimeter in either direction. On the reverse, a small die dot appears over the left crossbar of the T in CENT. The crossbars of a letter T divide its top into left and right halves, and specifying the left crossbar pins this dot to an area perhaps 0.2mm wide. The trail die effect carries the WS suffix, indicating both fluting and step deviation were present on the Memorial's stepped base. Cataloged at Stage B mid-die-state. Struck at Denver on copper-plated zinc planchets, 2.5 grams, 19mm, plain edge.

Die Markers

• Stage “B”, obverse is MDS – a die gouge is seen on the coat line, even with the mint mark.
• Reverse is MDS – a small die dot is seen over the left crossbar of the T in CENT.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Jean Lee
• Expert attribution by Trail Dies

External References