1988P-1DER-006T Trail Die Reverse

Description

Discovered by Louis Schaeffer, the 1988P-1DER-006T Trail Die Reverse presents a Tilted (T) variety on the reverse of the 1988 Philadelphia Lincoln Memorial cent. Tilted trail dies result from a slight angular misalignment during the hubbing process, where the hub does not seat perfectly level against the working die blank, producing faint displaced impressions of design elements offset from their intended positions. This specimen is documented at Stage B with the obverse at mid-die state, exhibiting a small die dot on top of the 9 digit and an additional small die dot in the lower loop of the B in LIBERTY — markers that help attributors confirm the specific die pair. The reverse is at mid-die state with no significant markers noted, indicating a relatively clean die surface at this stage of its production life. Trail die varieties gained formal recognition in the early 2000s through the work of researchers like Kevin Flynn, and the 1988 Philadelphia cent has proven an especially rich date for these varieties, with multiple trail die obverses and reverses documented from that year's production. Struck on copper-plated zinc planchets at 2.5 grams and 19mm.

Die Markers

• Stage “B”, obverse is MDS – small die dot on top of the 9 digit. A small die dot is seen in the lower loop of the B in LIBERTY.
• Reverse is MDS – none noted.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Louis Schaeffer
• Expert attribution by Trail Dies

External References