2011P-1DEO-014T Trail Die Obverse

Description

Discovered by Tate Schuetz, the 2011P-1DEO-014T Trail Die Obverse records a trail die variety on a 2011-P Lincoln Shield Cent — one of the earliest Shield reverse issues, as the Lyndall Bass-designed Union Shield reverse debuted in 2010. Trail dies produce a faint, ghostly secondary impression of the design slightly offset from the primary image, resulting from the die bouncing or chattering during the striking sequence. This mechanical anomaly creates a trail-like shadow effect that differs from doubled dies in its origin: while doubled dies result from hub misalignment during die manufacture, trail dies arise from die behavior during the actual coin striking process. At Stage B, the obverse is in Mid Die State (MDS) with no significant markers noted, while the reverse is also MDS and shows two die chips on the top edge of the shield — the Union Shield that forms the central design element of the new reverse. These reverse die chips provide attribution markers independent of the trail die phenomenon itself, anchoring the variety to a specific die pair at a specific point in its production life. The 2011-P Lincoln Shield Cent was struck at the Philadelphia Mint in copper-plated zinc composition (2.5 grams, 19.05 mm diameter). As the fourteenth trail die obverse documented for the 2011-P cent, this variety demonstrates that trail die phenomena occurred with measurable frequency during Shield Cent production, contributing to a growing census of Lincoln Cent trail die varieties maintained by the Trail Dies attribution organization.

Die Markers

• Stage “B“, obverse is MDS – none noted.
• Reverse is MDS – two die chips are seen on the top edge of the shield.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Tate Schuetz
• Expert attribution by Trail Dies

External References