2009P(DC)-25DEO-001T Trail Die Obverse

Description

Documented in the Trail Dies catalog and discovered by William Glen of Florida, the 2009P(DC)-25DEO-001T is a trail die obverse variety found on the 2009 Philadelphia Mint District of Columbia Quarter. Trail dies represent a specialized class of die variety where a faint secondary impression of the design appears offset from the primary struck image, produced when a die receives an unintended secondary contact during manufacturing, installation, or testing procedures. Two documented die stages track this die's progression: Stage A shows the obverse at EDS with no markers noted and the reverse also at EDS with no markers; Stage B advances to late early die state (LEDS) on the obverse with a small die gouge developing below the U of UNITED — a marker that distinguishes Stage B specimens from the unmarked Stage A coins. The DC & US Territories Quarters of 2009 extended the successful State Quarters concept to the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories, with the DC reverse design by Don Everhart depicting Duke Ellington, the legendary jazz musician and Washington, D.C. native, seated at a piano. Struck at the Philadelphia Mint in copper-nickel clad composition (8.33% nickel, 91.67% copper) weighing 5.67 grams with a 24.26 mm diameter, the DC quarter celebrated the nation's capital. Trail die obverse varieties like this one show the secondary impression on the portrait side of the coin, and William Glen's discovery in Florida demonstrates the geographic breadth of the variety collecting community, where specialists across the country examine newly discovered specimens and submit documentation to centralized catalogs for permanent classification.

Die Markers

• Stage "A", obverse is EDS – none noted.
• Reverse is EDS – none noted.
• Stage "B", obverse is LEDS – a small die gouge is seen below the U of UNITED.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Bob Piazza
• Expert attribution by Trail Dies

External References