RCD-2c-1865-09R Retained Cud

Description

Die crack on the reverse running from the rim to the E in STATES, marked by white arrows in the original documentation, accompanies this retained cud on the 1865 Two Cent Piece — a variety where the fractured rim section remained attached to the die rather than separating completely. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins as RCD-2c-1865-09R, the ninth documented reverse retained cud for the 1865 date, this variety preserves evidence of a die in transitional failure: the crack had propagated from the rim inward to the lettering, but the broken segment had not yet detached, producing a raised but partially detailed area on struck coins. Philadelphia struck 13,640,000 Two Cent Pieces in 1865, the denomination's second year of production and its peak mintage, driven by the Civil War-era shortage of small change that had prompted the denomination's creation in 1864. The retained cud mechanism represents an intermediate state between a simple die crack and a full cud, and the accompanying rim-to-E die crack documents the fracture path that would eventually lead to complete separation if the die remained in service. James B. Longacre's shield design and the denomination's historical significance as the first IN GOD WE TRUST coin add collecting context to this die failure documentation, making retained cuds on Two Cent Pieces doubly interesting to error-variety and type coin specialists.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Angel Luna
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References