2016 Typical Die Clash TDC-1C-2016-01

Description

First typical die clash documented for the 2016 Lincoln Shield cent, TDC-1c-2016-01 preserves the transferred design impressions created when obverse and reverse dies struck each other without an intervening planchet during a coining press malfunction. The MadDieClashes attribution service recorded this variety from a specimen in the collection of Alfonso Lopez, noting that clash marks were transferred between the dies during the clash event. Victor David Brenner's Lincoln portrait on the obverse and Lyndall Bass's Union shield reverse — adopted in 2010 to replace Frank Gasparro's Lincoln Memorial design — create the specific clash signature for modern Shield cents, where the shield's horizontal bands and vertical stripes may ghost onto the obverse field and Lincoln's profile elements may transfer to the reverse. Philadelphia struck approximately 6.02 billion cents in 2016, a massive production volume where high-speed coining presses operating at several hundred strikes per minute inevitably experienced occasional feed failures that allowed die-on-die contact. The Shield cent's relatively flat, low-relief design may produce clash marks that are subtler than those on earlier cent types with deeper sculptural elements, requiring careful examination under oblique lighting to detect. The original catalog entry notes that clash marks are highlighted by arrows in reference photographs, indicating specific transferred elements were identified and documented by the MadDieClashes team. Collectors examining 2016 Shield cents should use low-angle fiber-optic lighting at 5-10x magnification, slowly rotating the coin to catch the shallow raised clash marks as they become visible against the surrounding field. The open areas around Lincoln's portrait on the obverse and the field above and below the shield on the reverse provide the best detection zones.

External References