DC-1c-1996D-01 Die Chip

Description

First documented die chip for the 1996 Denver Mint Lincoln Memorial Cent, this variety preserves a small raised bump on the coin's surface created when a tiny fragment of the die steel broke away, leaving a void that filled with metal during striking. Die chips are among the most common forms of die deterioration and occur when localized stress, fatigue, or material defects cause a small piece of the die face to separate. Unlike die cracks, which produce raised lines, die chips create raised dots or irregular bumps that reflect the shape of the missing die fragment. The 1996-D Lincoln Memorial Cent was produced in massive quantities at the Denver Mint — over 6.6 billion cents were struck across both mints that year — and the enormous production volume meant die pairs were worked to their mechanical limits, increasing the frequency of die chip formation. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins with no known cross-references to other attribution systems, DC-1c-1996D-01 establishes the baseline entry for 1996-D die chips in the catalog. The "01" sequence number indicates this was the first die chip variety formally documented for this date and mint. Frank Gasparro's Lincoln Memorial reverse, in its thirty-seventh year of production by 1996, features architectural detail dense enough that die chips can appear in many distinct positions, each warranting separate catalog entries.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Dean M
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References