1798 Draped Bust Large Cent S-175 Reverse Cud

Description

Attributed as Sheldon S-175, this 1798 Draped Bust Large Cent of the Second Hair Style variety carries a reverse cud near the letter U in UNITED, extending clockwise and counterclockwise about one character length from the break's center. Sheldon's die-variety attribution system for early large cents remains the standard reference, and S-175 identifies a specific obverse-reverse die marriage within 1798 production. Robert Scot's Draped Bust design, with its flowing hair and classically inspired Liberty portrait, was hand-engraved into each working die — no hubs existed in the modern sense, and every die carried subtle individual differences. The reverse cud documents a fracture near the rim where a section broke away, leaving a raised, featureless area on subsequently struck coins. Cuds on late-eighteenth-century copper coinage are significant because the hand-operated screw presses of the early Philadelphia Mint imposed different stress patterns than later steam-powered equipment, and surviving examples provide insight into the mechanical limits of the infant Mint's tooling. The Second Hair Style classification distinguishes this from the earlier hair arrangement on 1798 cents. A reverse cud die break is visible on this 1798 Draped Bust large cent (Sheldon S-175, Second Hair Style).

Attribution History

• Discovered by NumisDexDealer
• Sheldon S-175