1984P-1DEO-002T Trail Die Obverse

Description

Cataloged as 1984P-1DEO-002T in the Trail Dies reference, this Stage C trail die variety on the 1984 Philadelphia Lincoln Memorial cent preserves evidence of die-to-die contact during storage or handling. When dies are stacked face-to-face without adequate separation, the hardened steel surfaces can transfer faint impressions between adjacent die faces — marks that then appear on every coin struck until the die is retired. Both dies in this pair reached a late die state before the trail die evidence was documented. On the obverse, an old die gouge appears below and to the right of the word IN, positioned in an area free of normal design elements where the foreign impression stands out clearly against the open field. The reverse carries two small gouges in the middle of the O in ONE, a precise location that aids rapid attribution under magnification. The combination of specific gouge positions on both dies creates a unique fingerprint for this variety, separating it from the seven other 1984P trail die obverse entries documented in the Trail Dies catalog. Struck at Philadelphia on copper-plated zinc planchets weighing 2.5 grams from a production run exceeding 8.15 billion cents.

Die Markers

• Stage “C”, obverse is LDS – an old die gouge is seen in the field below and to the right of the word IN.
• Reverse is LDS – two small die gouges are seen in the middle of the O in ONE.

External References