PC-1c-1862-06R Pre-Cud

Description

Sixth pre-cud documented on the reverse of the 1862 Indian Head cent by the Cuds on Coins attribution service, PC-1c-1862-06R was cataloged on February 4, 2019. James B. Longacre's Indian Head design was in its fourth year of production using the copper-nickel alloy composition, and Philadelphia struck approximately 28.08 million cents in 1862 — a significant output during the first full year of Civil War coinage demand. The 1862 date occupies a pivotal moment in American monetary history: widespread hoarding of gold and silver coins had begun in earnest following the outbreak of hostilities in April 1861, and by mid-1862 even copper-nickel cents were being withdrawn from circulation, prompting Congress to authorize postage currency as a substitute. Against this backdrop of monetary turmoil, the Philadelphia Mint operated its coining presses at capacity, placing extraordinary demands on die pairs that were already stressed by the hardness of the copper-nickel composition. The six reverse pre-cuds cataloged for the 1862 date — with PC-1c-1862-06R being the most recently documented at the time of its 2019 catalog entry — demonstrate that die rim failures were a recurring feature of Indian Head cent production during this period. Pre-cuds form when cyclic striking stress exceeds the fatigue strength of the die steel at the rim, where the geometric transition between the flat rim face and the recessed design cavity creates a stress concentration. The resulting crack appears on struck coins as a fine raised line running from the rim inward, without the displaced or elevated metal that characterizes the more advanced retained cud and full cud stages. Collectors should examine the reverse rim area of 1862 Indian Head cents under 10-15x magnification, using oblique lighting to cast shadows along any fine raised irregularities that might indicate a pre-cud fracture trace.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Keith Christenson
• Cross reference: none. 02/04/2019.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References