CU-1c-1803-08R Cud

Description

Eight documented reverse cuds on a single early American cent date represents exceptional die break documentation for the Draped Bust series, and CU-1c-1803-08R marks the eighth such cataloged fracture on the 1803 large cent with the famous 100/000 fraction overdate. Robert Scot's Liberty portrait and wreath reverse, hand-engraved into each working die at the Philadelphia Mint during an era when die production was a labor-intensive craft, proved susceptible to rim fracturing under the mechanical stresses of screw-press coining. The 100/000 fraction variety itself — where the denominator received an extra zero during punch application — already marks this as a distinctive die, and the superimposition of a reverse rim cud adds another layer of die failure documentation. No additional cross-references exist beyond the Cuds on Coins primary designation. Early nineteenth-century large cents, struck in soft copper with relatively crude equipment by modern standards, present unique challenges for cud identification because two centuries of circulation and environmental exposure have often softened the sharp boundaries between cud material and the adjacent rim. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins, CU-1c-1803-08R connects the systematic die break research methodology developed for modern coinage with specimens struck over two hundred years ago at the young nation's sole mint facility.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Friscomint1793 on eBay
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References