2015D(BRP)-25DER-001T Trail Die Reverse

Description

Cataloged by Trail Dies, the 2015D(BRP)-25DER-001T is the first documented trail die reverse variety for the 2015-D Blue Ridge Parkway National Park Quarter, part of the America the Beautiful Quarters program (2010-2021). Trail die varieties arise when residual design impressions from a previously used die persist through the die preparation process and contaminate a new working die, transferring faint ghost images of foreign design elements onto subsequently struck coins. The Blue Ridge Parkway quarter, designed by Frank Morris, depicts a scenic view from the parkway near Craggy Gardens in North Carolina, featuring layered mountain ridges receding into the distance with a cardinal perched on a rhododendron branch — a detailed composition that provides numerous surfaces where trail die contamination could become visible. Denver's quarterly production schedule for the America the Beautiful program required frequent die changeovers as each new design entered production, and these transitions created opportunities for cross-contamination between outgoing and incoming die sets. The 001T designation establishes this as the initial trail die entry for the 2015-D Blue Ridge Parkway quarter, with a companion entry (002T) indicating that at least two separate trail die contamination events affected this particular issue. Trail die impressions are typically quite subtle, appearing as faint raised or incuse outlines of design elements foreign to the coin's intended composition. Collectors should examine the reverse under 10-20x magnification with strong oblique lighting, looking for ghost-like traces of design elements — potentially from a preceding America the Beautiful design or from an entirely different denomination — that do not belong to the standard Blue Ridge Parkway reverse composition.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Ken Potter
• Expert attribution by Trail Dies

External References