1910 Lincoln Wheat Cent Die Clash

Description

This 1910 Philadelphia Lincoln Wheat Cent exhibits a die clash on the obverse where part of the reverse N from ONE CENT has been transferred in incuse form between Lincoln's chin and bowtie — one of the most frequently encountered die clash patterns in the entire Lincoln cent series. The positional relationship between Lincoln's chin on the obverse die and the N in ONE on the reverse die creates a predictable transfer location whenever the dies strike each other without a planchet between them, and this pattern has been documented across dozens of date-mintmark combinations throughout the Wheat Cent era. The 1910 Philadelphia issue had a substantial mintage of 146,801,218 coins, the second year of production for Victor David Brenner's Lincoln Cent design, which debuted in 1909. The high mintage required numerous die pairs, increasing the statistical probability of die clash events during the production run. The 1910 cent was struck in bronze composition (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc) weighing 3.11 grams at 19 mm diameter with a plain edge. Die clashes occur most frequently during periods of high-speed production when the automatic planchet feed mechanism fails to deliver a blank between die strokes. The incuse N between the chin and bowtie is detectable under low magnification and is often visible to the unaided eye on well-preserved specimens, making this a popular variety for beginning collectors exploring die errors on early Lincoln cents.