1952-S Atypical Die Clash ADC-1C-1952S-01

Description

Cataloged as ADC-1c-1952S-01 and held in the collection of Ray Parkhurst, this 1952 San Francisco Lincoln wheat cent presents a particularly unusual atypical die clash involving a tilted die. Standard die clashes occur when parallel die faces strike each other without a planchet, but this example resulted from a tilted die contacting the opposing face at an angle, producing clash marks in non-standard locations. The obverse shows the clash mark left by the field surrounding the stem of the wheat ear below the letters OD in GOD. On the reverse, the clash mark formed by the top of Lincoln's head appears below the words OF AMERICA. While tilted die clashes have been previously documented on wheat cents producing bar-style clash marks through E PLURIBUS UNUM, as seen on ADC-1c-1928-01 and ADC-1c-1954S-01, this is the first example showing the tilt at the opposite pole. The unusual positioning of transferred design elements outside their expected clash zones makes this variety diagnostically distinctive among wheat cent die clash errors.

External References