PC-5c-1883-10R Pre-Cud

Description

The tenth pre-cud documented on the 1883 Liberty Head Nickel No CENTS variety, the PC-5c-1883-10R captures an advanced rim crack on one of the most historically significant coins in American numismatics. The "R" suffix indicates this pre-cud is retained — the crack network has outlined a section of die rim that will eventually fracture, but the affected steel remains fully intact, producing coins with raised crack lines that trace the future cud's boundaries. The 1883 No CENTS Liberty Head Nickel is legendary for the design controversy it sparked: without the word CENTS on the reverse, the nickel was the same size as the five-dollar gold piece, enabling unscrupulous individuals to gold-plate them and pass them at face value. The Mint quickly added CENTS to the reverse, creating the famous No CENTS / With CENTS subtypes that have fascinated collectors ever since. Ten pre-cuds for the No CENTS subtype suggests that the dies used for this abbreviated production run experienced considerable stress, and the high count of documented die failures reflects the intense collector scrutiny applied to this historically significant issue. Attributed by Cuds on Coins, pre-cuds represent the forensic evidence of impending die fracture — the visible crack network that maps the exact geometry of a break that has not yet occurred.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Chuck Newman
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References