1988P-1DEO-001T Trail Die Obverse

Description

Found by Louis Schaeffer, 1988P-1DEO-001T documents a trail die obverse on the 1988 Philadelphia Lincoln Memorial cent — a variety created when the hub makes incomplete or misaligned contact with the working die during manufacture, leaving faint trailing impressions of design elements offset from their intended positions. Trail dies differ from doubled dies in their formation mechanism: rather than receiving two distinct hub impressions, the die experiences a dragging or tilting motion during a single hubbing contact, producing elongated ghost traces rather than sharp secondary images. This specimen is documented in Stage C (late die state), with no significant obverse die markers noted at this advanced stage, likely because die wear and polishing have obscured earlier markers. The reverse, also in late die state, shows a die crack extending from the rim into the left base tip of the Memorial moving toward the stylobate, and a second die crack from the rim into the right base tip moving along the base line — progressive cracks that confirm extensive die service. The "T" suffix in the catalog designation identifies this as a tilted trail die type, indicating the hub tilted relative to the die during hubbing. Struck at the Philadelphia Mint on copper-plated zinc planchets composed of 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper, weighing 2.5 grams at 19mm diameter.

Die Markers

• Stage “C”, obverse is LDS – none noted.
• Reverse is LDS – die crack from the rim into the left base tip and moving up towards the stylobate. Die crack from the rim into the right base tip and moving along the base line.
• NOTES:
• This die was found by
• Louis Schaeffer.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Louis Schaeffer
• Expert attribution by Trail Dies

External References