1998D-1DEO-003T Trail Die Obverse

Description

Discovered by Bob Piazza of Florida, this 1998 Denver Memorial Cent shows short but relatively strong trail lines from the top left corners of LIBERTY, offset direction 300 degrees. Trail dies occur when lateral movement between die and planchet during striking creates linear extensions of design elements. Die markers: Stage B, obverse is MDS — die gouges in and around the date. Reverse is MDS — a small die dot between N and T of CENT. The date-area gouges provide a distinctive identification feature independent of the trail lines. Struck at Denver in copper-plated zinc (2.5 g, 19.05 mm), the LIBERTY inscription provides clearly defined letter edges whose trail extensions are detectable under moderate magnification. The 300-degree offset indicates upper-left lateral movement creating extensions from the top left corners of the letters.

Die Markers

• Stage “B”, Obverse is MDS – Die gouges in and around the date.
• Reverse is MDS – A small die dot between the N and T of CENT.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Bob Piazza
• Expert attribution by Trail Dies

External References