RRDC-5c-1941S-01R Bisecting Rim to Rim Die Crack

Description

Cataloged as RRDC-5c-1941S-01R, this 1941 San Francisco Jefferson Nickel exhibits a bisecting rim-to-rim die crack — a dramatic form of die failure where a crack traverses the entire diameter of the coin from one edge to the other, dividing the design field into two halves. Unlike partial die cracks that extend partway across a coin, a bisecting crack represents complete structural failure of the die steel, a fracture propagating entirely through the working face. Felix Schlag's Jefferson Nickel design had been in production for only four years when this die fractured, the series having debuted in 1938. The 1941 date holds additional significance as the last year of standard copper-nickel composition before the wartime alloy changeover — beginning partway through 1942, nickel was removed from the five-cent piece in favor of a silver-copper-manganese alloy, making 1941 the final year of the original metallurgical formula. San Francisco production in 1941 was modest compared to Philadelphia and Denver, and a bisecting die crack on an S-mint nickel from this transitional year represents an uncommon convergence of dramatic die failure and historical context.

Attribution History

• Cross reference number: none. See RRDC-5c-1941S-01R
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References