CU-1c-1919S-02 Rim Cud

Description

Struck at the San Francisco Mint during the aftermath of World War I, this second documented rim cud on the 1919-S Lincoln Wheat Cent preserves evidence of catastrophic die failure along the coin's rim. A cud forms when a section of the die rim fractures and breaks away entirely, leaving a cavity in the die that fills with metal during subsequent strikes, producing a raised, featureless blob at the edge of the finished coin. Unlike die cracks or retained cuds where the fractured piece remains attached, a full cud represents the terminal stage of rim failure — the broken fragment has completely separated. The 1919-S cent was produced in a mintage of approximately 139 million pieces, modest by later standards but substantial for San Francisco's capacity at the time. San Francisco's "S" mint mark distinguished these coins from the higher-mintage Philadelphia issues, and the mechanical stresses of sustained production runs gradually weakened die rims until fracture occurred. Two documented rim cuds for this date indicates that at least two separate dies experienced complete rim failure during the 1919-S production run. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins, this variety demonstrates that die rim failures were a routine consequence of early twentieth-century minting operations, where die steel metallurgy and heat treatment processes had not yet achieved the longevity standards of later decades.

Attribution History

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

External References