2007P-1DEO-012T Trail Die Obverse

Description

Twelfth cataloged trail die obverse for the 2007 Philadelphia Lincoln Memorial Cent, this variety documents a die manufacturing anomaly where the wrong hub briefly contacted a working obverse die, leaving faint displaced design impressions. Die markers place both obverse and reverse in Mid-Die State: the obverse shows diagonal die scratches behind Lincoln's head, while no reverse markers have been noted. Trail dies differ from doubled dies in their formation mechanism — rather than misalignment between multiple impressions of the correct hub, trail dies result from an accidental contact with an incorrect hub or an incorrectly oriented hub during the die preparation process. The resulting ghost-like impressions are typically fainter and more diffuse than true hub doubling. Cataloged by Trail Dies, the 2007 Philadelphia cent was produced during the final two years of Frank Gasparro's Memorial reverse, which had been in continuous use since 1959. Twelve trail die obverses documented for a single date indicates that die manufacturing errors were not uncommon during the high-volume production of Lincoln Cents, where hundreds of working dies were prepared annually. The diagonal die scratches behind Lincoln's head serve as the primary identifying feature for matching specimens to this specific die, complementing the trail line impressions themselves as attribution diagnostics.

Die Markers

• Obverse is MDS – diagonal die scratches are seen behind Lincoln’s head.
• Reverse is MDS – none noted.

External References