2012P-1DEO-020T Trail Die Obverse

Description

Documented in the Trail Dies catalog and discovered by Mark Britton, the 2012P-1DEO-020T is a trail die obverse variety found on the 2012 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Shield Cent. Trail die obverse varieties exhibit a faint secondary impression of the obverse design offset from the primary, caused during die manufacturing, installation, or test-strike procedures — creating a ghost-like duplicate of design elements that can range from barely perceptible to clearly visible under magnification. Die marker documentation identifies Stage "B" at mid-die-state (MDS): the obverse displays a die crack in Lincoln's forehead, while the reverse shows a die crack on the upper right edge of the shield that travels upward and extends into the field. The obverse forehead crack follows a path through one of the highest-relief areas of the portrait, where the die steel experiences maximum stress during each striking cycle, making this location a common site for progressive die failure. The reverse shield-edge crack extending into the adjacent field documents structural failure propagating outward from the design's boundary. The Lincoln Shield Cent was designed by Victor David Brenner for the obverse portrait and Lyndall Bass for the Shield reverse, struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 2012 in copper-plated zinc composition (97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper) weighing 2.50 grams with a 19.05 mm diameter. Mark Britton's discovery and documentation of this trail die variety contributed to the systematic cataloging effort that tracks these specialized die anomalies across the Lincoln Cent series. The twentieth cataloged trail die obverse for 2012-P (the -020 in the designation) indicates a substantial trail die population for this date, reflecting the large number of working dies employed for Philadelphia Mint cent production.

Die Markers

• Stage “B“, obverse is MDS – a die crack is seen in Lincoln’s forehead.
• Reverse is MDS – a die crack is seen on the upper right edge of the shield, traveling upward and into the field.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Mark Britton
• Expert attribution by Trail Dies

External References