LDB4-1957-002 Die Break

Description

Classified under the Hardy system as 57P-4EL+36, this die break on the 1957 Proof Lincoln Wheat Cent represents a four-segment Extended Lateral break reaching into segment thirty-six. The Extended Lateral designation distinguishes this fracture pattern from Face breaks (which traverse the portrait area) and Full Lateral breaks (which span the entire die width), placing it as a crack that extends laterally across a significant but not complete portion of the die surface. Segment thirty-six identifies the specific zone where the crack propagated beyond the primary four segments. Not listed in the Cohen catalog of proof cent die varieties, Hardy 57P-4EL+36 was documented through the specialized die break census that maps these fractures with greater positional precision than the Cohen numbering system alone provides. The 1957 proof cent was the penultimate year of the Lincoln Wheat Cent series — with the Memorial reverse replacing it in 1959 — and proof dies from this era were manufactured from steel whose hardening processes, while superior to earlier decades, still produced occasional structural failures under the concentrated pressures of proof striking.

Attribution History

• Discovered by JC Stevens
• Cross references: Cohen Not Listed, Hardy 57P-4EL+36. 07/17/2015.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References