CU-1C-1919S-03 Rim Cud

Description

At the mechanical level, a cud is the visible consequence of catastrophic die fracture. When a coining die — a cylinder of hardened tool steel — absorbs the shock of pressing design into metal at pressures exceeding forty tons, internal stress accumulates along grain boundaries and microscopic inclusions in the steel. Over thousands of impressions, these stress points nucleate cracks that slowly extend through the die body. If a crack reaches the rim and connects with another crack or the die's edge, the enclosed section becomes mechanically isolated and eventually separates. CU-1C-1919S-03, the third cataloged rim cud on the 1919 San Francisco Lincoln Wheat cent, preserves exactly this outcome. The cavity left by the departed die fragment filled with planchet metal during each subsequent strike, creating a raised, design-free mass. Post-WWI San Francisco cent production resumed peacetime rhythms in 1919, but the 1919-S mintage of 139.76 million pieces still required substantial die consumption, and the statistical inevitability of rim fractures across that many die pairs is reflected in the multiple cuds cataloged for this date.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Keith Christenson
• CU-1C-1919S-03
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References