2006D-1DER-009T Trail Die Reverse

Description

Cataloged by the Trail Dies project, the 2006D-1DER-009T is a trail die reverse variety found on a 2006 Denver Mint Lincoln Memorial cent, discovered by Jean Lee. The Lincoln Memorial cent, featuring Frank Gasparro's reverse in continuous production from 1959 through 2008, was struck in copper-plated zinc composition weighing 2.5 grams with a 19 mm diameter. Trail die varieties arise when a working die makes inadvertent contact with another die, hub, or piece of production tooling, transferring faint design impressions onto the die surface. These transferred impressions then appear as consistent, repeatable features on every coin struck from that die. This specimen is documented at Stage B in mid die state (MDS). The obverse in mid die state shows a small die dot below the first zero of the date, providing a useful attribution marker on the portrait side of the coin. The reverse in mid die state displays a die dot between the O and N of ONE, the primary reverse diagnostic for this trail die variety. Jean Lee, who has discovered multiple trail die varieties across different denominations and dates, identified this 2006-D example through careful examination of Denver Mint cents. The Denver Mint produced over 3.9 billion cents in 2006, requiring massive numbers of die pairs, and the constant die handling associated with such high-volume production naturally generates opportunities for incidental die contact events. The 2006 date marks one of the final years of the Lincoln Memorial reverse design, and trail die varieties from this period document the last production runs of one of the most iconic and longest-serving reverse designs in American coinage history.

Die Markers

• Stage “B”, obverse is MDS – a small die dot is seen below the first zero of the date.
• Reverse is MDS – a die dot is seen between the O and N of ONE.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Jean Lee
• Expert attribution by Trail Dies

External References