PC-1c-1863-15R Pre-Cud

Description

Fifteenth pre-cud documented on the reverse of the 1863 Indian Head cent by the Cuds on Coins attribution service, PC-1c-1863-15R was cataloged on February 12, 2019. The 1863 date has accumulated a substantial roster of reverse pre-cuds — at least sixteen documented — making it one of the most prolific dates for this category of die failure in the entire Indian Head cent series. James B. Longacre's design was being struck in the copper-nickel composition (88% copper, 12% nickel) that would continue for one more year before the wartime transition to bronze in 1864, and Philadelphia's output of approximately 49.84 million cents in 1863 placed enormous demands on working dies already stressed by the alloy's hardness. The Civil War context of 1863 production adds historical dimension to the die failure record: Union military demand for small change to pay soldiers, combined with civilian hoarding that had effectively removed gold and silver coins from circulation, drove cent production to levels that pushed dies to their mechanical limits. The fifteen reverse pre-cuds cataloged for 1863 prior to this entry — followed by at least one more (PC-1c-1863-16R) — establish quantitative evidence that rim fracturing was a pervasive feature of copper-nickel Indian Head cent die service. Pre-cuds represent the initial stage of progressive die failure where the steel has cracked at or near the rim but the broken fragment remains firmly seated, producing a thin raised line on struck coins that traces the fracture path without the elevated or displaced metal characteristic of more advanced retained cuds. The February 2019 cataloging date places this entry within the systematic documentation effort that has characterized the Cuds on Coins project since its inception. Collectors should examine the reverse rim of 1863 Indian Head cents under 10-15x magnification for fine raised lines radiating inward from the edge that indicate the presence of a pre-cud fracture trace.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Devin Anderson
• Cross reference: none. 02/12/2019.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References