LDB5-1956-001B BIE Die Break

Description

Bearing a "B" suffix that identifies it as a sub-variety of LDB5-1956-001, this BIE die break at Hardy position 5 on the 1956 Philadelphia Wheat Cent occupies a less commonly documented Hardy position than the prolific position 4 entries. Cross-referenced as Cohen 56-B1008 with Hardy classification 56P-SEL1 and cataloged on August 17, 2015 (with an apparent truncated year in the original data), the dual Cohen/Hardy listing provides confirmed independent verification. The Cohen 56-B1008 number places this within the sequential die break catalog for the 1956 date, while Hardy 56P-SEL1 provides positional specificity at position 5 with SEL sublocation coding. Hardy position 5 lies between positions 4 and 6 in the LIBERTY inscription zone, representing a break location between different letter pairs than the more frequently cataloged positions. The "B" suffix indicates this is a related but distinct variation of the parent 001 variety — potentially a different die state of the same die or a closely similar break on a different die that shared enough characteristics with 001 to warrant sub-classification rather than a new sequence number. The 1956 Philadelphia Wheat Cent was produced in substantial quantities during the third-to-last year of the Wheat reverse, and BIE breaks from this penultimate era document die failure patterns on mature, well-optimized production runs where die steel composition and hardening techniques had been refined over decades. Cuds on Coins maintains this variety in their registry, and position 5 entries provide important data points for understanding the positional distribution of BIE formation across the full LIBERTY inscription span.

Attribution History

• Discovered by JC Stevens
• Cross references: Cohen 56-B1008, Hardy 56P-SEL1. 08/17/205.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References