1996P-1DER-027T Trail Die Reverse

Description

Discovered by Jimmy Ehrhart and Jeremy Gardner, this 1996 Philadelphia Lincoln Memorial Cent trail die represents the kind of advanced die wear documentation that the TrailDies.com attribution project has systematically assembled across the Memorial cent series. Trail dies occur when a working die is allowed to remain in service after the design has begun to smear, drag, and fade from excessive use, producing coins with progressively ghosted and elongated design elements. At Stage B, the obverse is mid-die state with no notable markers. The reverse at Stage B shows a die clash in Memorial bays 8 and 9 — evidence that at some point in this die's life the obverse and reverse struck each other without a planchet between them, transferring design elements from one face to the other before the clash marks were polished away or worn down. At Stage C (late-mid die state), the obverse shows no additional markers. The reverse at Stage C carries a die gouge between the S and T of STATES and a die gouge to the right of the T in CENT, providing two strong reverse attribution markers on late-state examples. The 1996 Lincoln Memorial Cent was struck on copper-plated zinc planchets.

Die Markers

• Stage “B”, obverse is MDS – none noted
• Reverse is MDS – die clash in bays 8 and 9
• Stage “C”, obverse is LMDS – none noted.
• Reverse is LMDS – die gouge between the S and T of STATES. Die gouge to the right of the T in CENT.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Jimmy Ehrhart & Jeremy Gardner
• Expert attribution by Trail Dies

External References