2009D-1DEO-003T Trail Die Obverse

Description

Featuring the Formative Years reverse design — which depicts young Abraham Lincoln reading while seated on a log, symbolizing his self-education on the Indiana frontier — this 2009 Denver Mint Lincoln Cent carries a trail die impression on the obverse. Trail dies are created when a previously struck coin remains partially in the coining chamber and transfers a faint ghost of its design onto the next blank planchet before the dies deliver their primary strike. The ghost image sits beneath the full-pressure impression, producing a layered effect visible under magnification. Both the obverse and reverse are documented in mid die state, with a notable die crack running from the back end of the log to the rim on the reverse. This die crack traces a path from one of the design's most prominent features — the log on which Lincoln sits — outward to the coin's edge, providing a reliable secondary attribution marker for identifying this specific die pair. The 2009 Formative Years design was one of four bicentennial reverses produced exclusively that year, and trail die varieties from these limited-production designs carry inherent scarcity tied to their single-year manufacturing window.

Die Markers

• Obverse is MDS – none noted.
• Reverse is MDS – a die crack is see from the back end of the log to the rim.

External References