1983 Typical Die Clash TDC-1C-1983-02

Description

Contributed by Joe Koelling, TDC-1C-1983-02 documents a notable unabraded die clash on the 1983 Philadelphia Lincoln Memorial cent — meaning the Mint did not polish or abrade the dies after the clash event, allowing the full complement of transferred design impressions to appear on subsequently struck coins. Unabraded die clashes are particularly valuable to researchers because they preserve the complete record of the clash contact, including subtle transferred features that would be removed or diminished by the die polishing operations that Mint personnel typically perform after detecting a clash event. A key diagnostic feature of this variety is the visibility of the Y from LIBERTY in bay two of the Memorial on the reverse — the letter's transfer from the obverse die to the reverse die face confirms the exact angular relationship between the dies at the moment of contact, because the Y's position on the reverse corresponds geometrically to where it would appear if the obverse and reverse designs were superimposed at normal striking alignment. The preservation of the full Y in the relatively protected space of a Memorial bay, where die polishing tools might not reach easily, suggests that even on clashes that undergo some maintenance, bay-interior features may survive. Attribution by MadDieClashes.

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