2007P-1DEO-013T Trail Die Obverse

Description

Thirteenth documented trail die obverse for the 2007 Philadelphia Lincoln Memorial Cent, 1DEO-013T shares the same Late Die State markers as several other 2007-P trail die varieties: an obverse die crack in Lincoln's forehead and reverse die cracks in column areas, here specifically in the top of column 1. Trail Dies cataloged this variety alongside the related 1DEO-015T, which shows a similar forehead crack but with its reverse crack at column 2 rather than column 1 — a distinction that confirms these are separate dies with independent crack patterns despite superficially similar LDS diagnostics. The forehead crack location recurs across multiple 2007-P trail die listings because it represents a stress concentration inherent to Victor David Brenner's Lincoln portrait design: the smooth brow area, where the die cavity is deepest and the steel walls thinnest, consistently develops fatigue cracks as the die approaches retirement. Column 1 on the reverse, the leftmost in the viewer's perspective, similarly experiences concentrated stress from the deep columnar cavity in Frank Gasparro's Memorial design. Philadelphia's 2007 cent production represented the next-to-last year of Memorial Cent manufacturing, and Trail Dies' documentation of thirteen obverse trail dies for this single date and mint reflects the systematic thoroughness of their attribution work. The LDS classification indicates these dies had reached the end of their useful production life, and the combination of trail die displacement with advanced die cracking suggests that both phenomena may be related to the cumulative mechanical stress the die absorbed throughout its service — hub displacement during manufacture providing the trail effect, and striking stress during production generating the fatigue cracks.

Die Markers

• Obverse is LDS – a die crack is seen in Lincoln’s forehead.
• Reverse is LDS – die cracks are seen in the top of column 1.

External References