PC-5c-1883-14 Pre-Cud

Description

The fourteenth pre-cud documented on the 1883 Liberty Head Nickel No CENTS variety, the PC-5c-1883-14 records an advanced die crack on one of American numismatics' most historically significant coins. The 1883 No CENTS Liberty Head Nickel — the first year of Charles Barber's Liberty Head design — was produced without the word CENTS on the reverse, an omission that was quickly rectified when unscrupulous individuals began gold-plating the coins and passing them as five-dollar gold pieces due to the similar size. The Mint added CENTS to the reverse partway through 1883, creating the famous No CENTS / With CENTS subtypes. A pre-cud captures the die at the critical stage where a crack has propagated to the rim and outlined a section that will eventually fracture into a full cud, but the fragment remains intact. The raised crack line on struck coins traces the exact boundary of the future break. Fourteen pre-cuds for a single subtype indicates extensive die deterioration documentation, and the No CENTS variety's popularity with collectors means these dies have been examined more thoroughly than many contemporary issues. Attributed by Cuds on Coins, this variety combines die failure documentation with the historical significance of one of America's most famous coin design controversies.

Attribution History

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

External References