RIDB-1c-2008-02 Retained Interior Die Break

Description

Cataloged by Cuds on Coins, the RIDB-1c-2008-02 is the second documented retained interior die break on the 2008 Lincoln Memorial Cent from the Philadelphia Mint — the final year of Frank Gasparro's Memorial reverse that had served since 1959. Retained interior die breaks form when a section of die steel fractures within the design field and remains trapped by surrounding material, producing a raised irregular outline on struck coins. The 2008 date holds special significance as the last year of the Memorial Cent design before the 2009 bicentennial reverses and the 2010 Union shield reverse permanently replaced it, making die varieties from 2008 the final examples from this 49-year reverse design. With at least six retained interior die breaks documented for 2008-P alone (as evidenced by RIDB-1c-2008-06), the final year saw extensive die usage that generated multiple instances of interior fracture. Terminal-year die varieties carry particular collecting interest because they represent the last production artifacts of a discontinued design, and RIDB varieties from the final Memorial Cent year document the die failure patterns under the mature manufacturing process.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Chris Channel
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References