1999 TRAIL DIE, 1999P-1DER-04?, A MONSTER

[wavysteps2003]

Timothy Leary would have liked this die, it is that unusual.

It seems that some of the strongest wavy step / trail dies came from 1999 and this is probably one of the strongest.

The first picture shows trails from the bottom of the letters in UNITED



With some notching on the D of UNITED



The next shows the distortion, odd notching and trails from the letters in STATE. Also note the unsual thickness in the letters



Also, distortion on the ER of AMERICA



The scrolling on top of the cornice on the left side has turned into a jagged saw.



Quasimodo gave Lincoln a break and let him visit Notre Dame. Meanwhile, some pranksters stole the right urn and replaced it with a pot belly stove. Also note the bending of the base of the columns to the right.



The ENT of CENT were also affected by the design extensions.



As were the designer's initials. Note the "trail" from the bottom of the T in CENT how it begins sharp and ends mushy, also note that it is NOT straight.



And least we not forget the EPU. This is a mess



Is there something normal on this die? Take a look at the ON of ONE; yup it is normal. This die probably failed somewhere in mid-die state. There are die chips in column # 1 and 2 with a lareg die chip in the left urn.



If you find this one, hang on to it for it is sure to become a classic variety die. Also, if you do happen to run across one, let me know, thanks.

It surprises me that the Mint inspectors let this die go. Maybe they were running short of dies and had to use it, just like they had to use 1999P-1DR-003. What ever the case, it left us with a very collectible coin.

BJ Neff

[hasfam]

I don't recall ever seeing a coin that looked like that. Actually, I have never thought to look for something like that. But I definately will now. It really is pretty cool looking. Like the whole hub shifted and smeared everything. Have you come up with any theories as to how these trails occur or happen? And I also found it interesting in the way all the trails go in one direction except for a couple of isolated places that move in another direction. I wonder what the experts at the MINT would say about it. What explanation they would have.
Very nice BJ,
Rock

[Dick]

BJ, it is odd that you came up with these photos of the 1999P, at this time. I am just going into the 1999P batch of the 60 rolls sent by my sister. They are part of about 6-8 rolls of the '90's. Wish me luck! you, have a nice day!
Dick

[eagames]

Dick,

Hope you find a 99 wide AM in that

[Bob P]

BJ,
I have one that looks like this one, including the die cracks/chips on columns 1 and 2. I have it listed as 1999P-1DTR-003 (your old number) Another die marker is a moderate sized die chip on the left side of the left urn. I believe I sent this one to you before, and you assigned that number to it. Is it in fact the same die? Have you compared the 003 with this one??

[wavysteps2003]

Bob - this is the same die, however, the number will change due to the combining of these anomalies. That is the reason for the 04?.

Speaking of these trails, Ken Potter put a blurb in COIN WORLD concerning a 1994 trail die and also added my connection to these anoamlies.

Now for an explanation to all of you who do not know what Bob and I know.

I have determined, through analysis, that trails and wavy steps are one in the same thing. The only difference is that they appear in different places on the die. I imagine that this MAY have something to do with the tilt of the die to the hub when this occurs. BUT that is still a very big question, made more complicated by the dual direction trail die shown a few post back.

What I am doing now is combining both wavy steps and trails into one number system, that will adequately describe the nature of the die that you are looking at. On top of that, I am also re-doing all the photos (approximately 1500 or so, which takes upwards of 3000 + to accomplish). Hopefully I will be done sometime mid to late summer with the main body, excluding those found in 1997, which is a different story.

When I run across an interesting die such as this, I post it in the forum just to see what kind of reaction it brings and aslo to let you know that such things are out there.

BJ Neff

[Bob P]

OK. Sounds good. I will renumber it.

[murphy]

Dontcha just love 1999 cents? lol. First the Wide AM, then the doubled far-right side columns, then the monster "Holy Grail" wavystep and last but not least the monster "Holy Trail" (?) die.

[hasfam]

Doubled far right side columns? Not familiar with that one. At least I don't think so. Is it listed somewhere or a pic of it I can see?
Rock