CU-1c-1802-01 Cud

Description

First documented cud for the 1802 Draped Bust Large Cent, this variety was cataloged by Cuds on Coins with no cross-references to other attribution services currently established. 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. On an 1802 Draped Bust Cent — struck during the earliest years of the United States Mint when the young republic was establishing its monetary system — a cud carries particular historical weight because each die was individually crafted by hand engraving, making every die pair unique and irreplaceable. The Draped Bust design, based on a Gilbert Stuart portrait of Liberty, was produced on large copper planchets approximately 29mm in diameter from 1796 through 1807 at the Philadelphia Mint, the nation's sole coining facility. Early copper large cents are classified through the Sheldon numbering system, and the documentation of die breaks on these coins contributes to understanding the die life and failure modes of hand-operated screw presses that produced coins one at a time. Finding a cud on an early American copper cent connects the collector to the physical realities of coin production in the early republic, where die steel quality, press technology, and striking pressure were all factors in determining when a die would fail.

Attribution History

• Discovered by jcocoin on eBay
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References