2011P(USG)-100DER-002T Trail Die Reverse

Description

Bearing the second trail die reverse designation for the 2011-P Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Dollar in Position A, this Trail Dies-sourced variety documents a distinct ghost-image offset from a different working die than the 001T listing for the same date and position. Trail die varieties are created during the die preparation process when the hub — which carries the design in positive relief — does not seat perfectly during the die-sinking operation, producing a faint secondary impression displaced from the primary design on the finished working die. Every coin struck from that die then exhibits the same offset ghost image, making trail dies a repeatable, die-attributable variety rather than a striking anomaly. The Presidential Dollar program's reverse, designed by Don Everhart, depicts the Statue of Liberty holding her torch aloft, with the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the denomination $1 arranged around the periphery. Grant's obverse portrait was sculpted by Don Everhart as well, capturing the stoic expression familiar from Civil War-era photographs of the general who would become president in 1869. Position A indicates a specific die orientation relative to the edge lettering — since Presidential Dollars carried their date, mintmark, and mottos on the edge rather than the obverse or reverse faces, two distinct rotational alignments were possible, and collectors track varieties by position. The existence of multiple trail die reverses (001T and 002T) for the same date-mint-position combination indicates that at least two different reverse working dies developed trail die characteristics during the die preparation process, each producing its own unique offset pattern.

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