CU-1C-1828-01R Cud

Description

Documented by Cuds on Coins as CU-1C-1828-01R, this reverse cud on the 1828 Matron Head large cent — specifically the Large Narrow Date variety — records a die failure from the earliest decades of sustained U.S. copper coinage production. The Matron Head design, introduced in 1816 after the hiatus in cent production during the War of 1812, features a left-facing Liberty wearing a coronet inscribed with the word LIBERTY, and it remained in use through 1835 before Gobrecht's modifications. The "R" suffix confirms the break occurred on the reverse die, affecting the wreath-and-denomination design that was standard for large cents of this period. Die breaks on 1820s copper cents were relatively common due to the limitations of contemporary metallurgy: die steel was forged by hand, hardened through inconsistent tempering processes, and subjected to the considerable forces required to strike the large 28.5mm copper planchet to full design depth. The 1828 cent exists in multiple die marriages documented by early copper specialists using the Newcomb attribution system, and the Large Narrow Date sub-variety places this cud within a specific subset of the year's die pairings. Early American copper collectors — often called "large cent nuts" — constitute one of the most dedicated collector communities in numismatics, and die break documentation on these early issues provides valuable production history for the Philadelphia Mint during the presidency of John Quincy Adams, when the facility operated as the sole U.S. coinage operation.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Friscomint1793 on eBay
• CU-1C-1828-01R
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References