2007P-1DER-008T Trail Die Reverse

Description

Discovered by Louis Schaeffer and cataloged as 2007P-1DER-008T by the Trail Dies attribution service, this trail die reverse variety appears on a 2007-P Lincoln Memorial cent from the Philadelphia Mint. Trail die varieties, also known as shelf doubling or die trail marks, occur when the die shifts slightly during the final stages of hubbing, leaving faint linear traces — trail lines — extending from design elements in a consistent directional offset. On this specimen, faint trail lines are visible from the tops of the T and E of STATES, the E and first P of PLURIBUS and the first U of UNUM, the left cornice tip, the left upper base corner, and the bottom of the N in ONE. All trail lines share a consistent offset direction of 290 degrees, confirming they resulted from a single hub displacement event. Die markers for Stage A include an obverse in late early die state (LEDS) with a small die dot above the W of WE and a die crack in Lincoln's forehead, while the reverse in LEDS shows no significant markers. The 2007 cent was composed of copper-plated zinc at 2.5 grams and 19 mm, part of the Lincoln Memorial Cents 1959-2008 series — notably the second-to-last year of Memorial cent production before the 2009 bicentennial reverses. Trail die varieties represent a distinct category from doubled dies, as the linear nature of the trail marks differs from the full design duplication seen in hub doubling, requiring specialized knowledge for proper identification and classification.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Louis Schaeffer
• Expert attribution by Trail Dies

External References