2013P-1DER-001T Trail Die Reverse

Description

Documented in the Trail Dies catalog and discovered by Joe Koelling, the 2013P-1DER-001T is a trail die reverse variety found on the 2013 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Shield Cent — the first cataloged trail die reverse for this date-mint combination, as indicated by the 001 sequence number. Trail dies represent a specialized class of minting variety where a faint secondary design impression appears offset from the primary, distinct from hub doubling in that the secondary impression results from an unintended contact during die installation or trial striking rather than from misaligned hub impressions during die manufacture. Die marker documentation identifies Stage "A" at early die state (EDS) with the obverse showing no noted markers and the reverse in EDS displaying a small die crack from the top of the C in AMERICA and a light die crack along the top left edge of the shield. Even in early die state, the presence of these two die cracks suggests the reverse die entered production with pre-existing stress fractures, possibly developed during the die manufacturing process itself. The Lincoln Shield Cent was struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 2013 in copper-plated zinc (97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper) weighing 2.5 grams with a 19.05 mm diameter. The Shield reverse, designed by Lyndall Bass, features thirteen vertical stripes representing the original colonies beneath a scroll bearing ONE CENT. Victor David Brenner's obverse portrait has been in continuous use since 1909. Joe Koelling, who discovered multiple trail die varieties across Shield Cent dates, has made significant contributions to the systematic documentation of trail die events in this series. The early die state documentation indicates these die cracks were present from the beginning of the die's production service, providing a baseline for tracking progressive deterioration across any subsequently documented later die states.

Die Markers

• Stage “A“, obverse is EDS – none noted
• Reverse is EDS – a small die crack is seen from the top of the C in AMERICA. A light die crack is seen along the top, left edge of the shield.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Joe Koelling
• Expert attribution by Trail Dies

External References