CU-5c-1867-05 Cud

Description

Documented by Cuds on Coins as CU-5c-1867-05, this Shield Nickel cud variety features a retained cud in the area containing the letters WE TR — corresponding to portions of "WE TRUST" from the motto IN GOD WE TRUST on the obverse of James B. Longacre's Shield design. A retained cud occurs when a section of the die rim fractures and separates but remains loosely attached to the die body, producing a raised featureless area on struck coins that partially obliterates the design elements in that zone while the broken die piece continues to function as a crude striking surface. The WE TR area placement of this retained cud means the fracture occurred in the upper portion of the die near the motto inscription, disrupting two partial words of IN GOD WE TRUST. The Shield Nickel, produced from 1866 to 1883, was the first five-cent coin struck in the copper-nickel alloy — 75% copper and 25% nickel — that would become the standard composition for American nickels to the present day. At 5.0 grams with a diameter of 20.5 mm and a plain edge, the Shield Nickel featured a prominent Union shield on the obverse surrounded by the motto, with a large numeral 5 surrounded by stars on the reverse (the With Rays variety of 1866-1867 included decorative rays between the stars). The 1867 date falls in the second year of production, during the Reconstruction era following the Civil War. No cross-references beyond the Cuds on Coins catalog have been established for this cud variety, making it primarily a Cuds on Coins attribution for collectors specializing in die break varieties on 19th-century nickel coinage.

Attribution History

• Cross reference: none. The area that has WE TR is the retained cud. See CU-5c-1867-05.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References