1996D-1DEO-002T Trail Die Obverse

Description

Found by Jeremy Gardner and cataloged in the Trail Dies reference, the 1996D-1DEO-002T is a trail die obverse variety discovered on the 1996 Denver Mint Lincoln Memorial Cent. Trail die varieties occur when a working die receives an unintended secondary impression from another die or hub during manufacturing or press setup, leaving faint offset traces of design elements alongside the primary impressions — essentially a ghost image at a fixed displacement from the intended design. The die was documented at Stage "B" in mid-die state (MDS), with the obverse showing a die gouge above and to the left of the 1 digit in the date as its identifying marker. The reverse, also in MDS, displays vertical die scratches running through the O of ONE — scratches that serve as independent confirmation of the specific reverse die paired with this trail die obverse. The trail die impression itself manifests as the characteristic faint secondary design traces offset from primary design elements, a feature that distinguishes trail dies from the more commonly encountered doubled dies by their typically fainter appearance and their origin in the die-making process rather than the hubbing cycle. The Lincoln Memorial Cent was designed by Victor David Brenner for the obverse and Frank Gasparro for the reverse, struck at the Denver Mint in copper-plated zinc composition at 2.50 grams with a 19.05 mm diameter. The Denver Mint's massive 1996 production run — over 6.6 billion cents — required a correspondingly large working die population, statistically increasing the opportunities for trail die events to occur during die preparation and press installation. Jeremy Gardner's discovery and systematic documentation of this variety contributed to the growing Trail Dies catalog that serves as the definitive reference for this specialized class of die variety across all U.S. coin denominations.

Die Markers

• Stage “B”, obverse is MDS – a die gouge is seen above and to the left of the 1 digit in the date.
• Reverse is MDS – Vertical die scratches are seen through the O of ONE.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Jeremy Gardner
• Expert attribution by Trail Dies

External References