CU-1C-1801-04R Cud

Description

One of the most celebrated early American die blunders hosts this reverse cud: the 1801 Draped Bust Cent with the famous 1/000 fraction error, where three zeroes were punched into the die instead of the intended denominator, producing the reading "1/000" at the base of the reverse. The fraction blunder alone makes any 1801 cent from this die family a storied collectible, and the addition of a rim cud compounds the die failure history. A cud forms when a section of the die rim fractures and the broken piece separates entirely, leaving a cavity that fills with metal during striking to produce a raised featureless mass at the coin's edge. Robert Scot's Draped Bust design was struck on hand-operated screw presses at the Philadelphia Mint using copper planchets, and the mechanical stress of repeated striking eventually fractured the rim on this already-flawed die. Early copper cents from the Federal period survive in limited numbers, and specimens combining the 1/000 fraction with a documented cud represent a convergence of die engraving error and mechanical failure that few other dates in the large cent series can match. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins.

Attribution History

• CU-1C-1801-04R; none.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References