CU-1C-1847-03B Rim Cud

Description

Advancing beyond the "A" stage documented in CU-1C-1847-03A, the "03B" designation records a later die state of the same rim cud on the 1847 Braided Hair Coronet Head Cent, where the fracture has progressed further — typically manifesting as a larger break area, additional cracks radiating from the original fracture, or changed topography of the raised cud area. Christian Gobrecht's Braided Hair design, featuring Liberty wearing a coronet inscribed with LIBERTY and her hair elaborately braided behind, was the standard U.S. large cent design from 1839 until its final year in 1857. Philadelphia struck 6,183,669 large cents in 1847, and the progression from Stage A to Stage B on the same cud provides collectors with a paired die state set that documents the evolution of a single die's failure over the course of its production run. Cross-referenced as CU-1C-1847-03B by Cuds on Coins, this staging system mirrors the approach used on later series like Lincoln Wheat Cents, where die breaks are tracked through sequential stages labeled A, B, C, and beyond. Mid-nineteenth-century die steel was harder and more brittle than the high-alloy tool steels used in modern die production, making progressive die fractures both common and informative about the mechanical properties of early mint tooling. Collectors specializing in large cent die breaks value staged pairs because they provide forensic evidence of how pre-Civil War dies deteriorated under production conditions.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Friscomint1793 on eBay
• CU-1C-1847-03B
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References