RCD-25c-1920S-02 Retained Cud

Description

Second retained cud cataloged for the 1920-S Standing Liberty Quarter, this variety documents another die rim failure on Hermon Atkins MacNeil's masterwork quarter design struck at the San Francisco Mint. Standing Liberty Quarters endured notoriously rapid wear in circulation — the exposed date area on the Type 2 design (1917-1930) wore smooth quickly, and the high-relief standing figure of Liberty concentrated striking pressure in ways that accelerated die fatigue. A retained cud captures the stage where the rim has fractured but the broken piece remains in position, producing a cracked and distorted rim area on struck coins that shows partial design detail rather than the blank mass of a full cud. San Francisco's 1920 quarter production of approximately 6.38 million pieces was substantial for the series, and two documented retained cuds indicates that multiple dies experienced rim fractures during the production run — potentially at different locations around the rim, as each retained cud records a unique die failure. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins with documentation dated April 15, 2019, this variety carries no known cross-references in other attribution systems. The Standing Liberty Quarter series is particularly rich in die failure varieties due to the design's challenging relief, and retained cuds from the relatively plentiful 1920-S date offer collectors an accessible entry point into this artistically significant series' die variety spectrum.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Chuck Newman
• Cross reference: none. 04/15/2019.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References