2011P-1DER-002T Trail Die Reverse

Description

Discovered by Steven Bingham and documented in the Trail Dies reference, the 2011P-1DER-002T is a trail die reverse variety found on the 2011 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Shield Cent. Trail dies are produced when a working die receives an unintended secondary contact with another die or hub during the manufacturing or setup process, imprinting faint ghost traces of design elements at a fixed offset from the primary design. The die was documented at Stage "B" in early-mid die state (EMDS), with no obverse markers noted at this stage. The reverse, also in EMDS, displays two identifying markers: a short die scratch above the F in the word OF and a small die dent just below the E of AMERICA. These reverse markers, while individually small, provide the die-specific fingerprint necessary to confirm this particular reverse die as the one bearing the trail die impression. The Lincoln Shield Cent features the obverse by Victor David Brenner and the reverse union shield design by Lyndall Bass, introduced in 2010 as the permanent replacement for the Lincoln Memorial reverse. Struck at the Philadelphia Mint in copper-plated zinc composition at 2.50 grams with a 19.05 mm diameter, the 2011 Shield Cent was only the second year of this reverse type, and trail die varieties identified early in a design's production run help establish baseline documentation for the new die configuration. The "002T" designation indicates this was the second trail die reverse cataloged for the 2011 Philadelphia issue, suggesting that the die production and press setup procedures for the still-new Shield design may have contributed to the frequency of trail die events during this early period. Steven Bingham's systematic search and documentation contributed to the comprehensive Trail Dies reference that catalogs these varieties across all denominations and dates in U.S. coinage.

Die Markers

• Stage “B “, obverse is EMDS – none noted
• Reverse is EMDS – a short die scratch is seen above the F in the word OF. A small die dent is seen just below the E of AMERICA.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Steven Bingham
• Expert attribution by Trail Dies

External References