PC-1c-1941S-12R Pre-Cud

Description

Struck at the San Francisco Mint during the final full year of peacetime production before the attack on Pearl Harbor reshaped American industry, PC-1c-1941S-12R is a pre-cud variety on the Lincoln Wheat Cent cataloged by Cuds on Coins. The designation indicates that a significant die crack had developed on this die but had not yet progressed to the point of causing a piece of the die face to break away. Pre-cuds occupy an important position in the die failure spectrum, representing the intermediate stage between routine die cracks and the dramatic cuds or retained cuds that follow when structural compromise reaches its terminal phase. The twelfth pre-cud documented for the 1941-S cent speaks to the heavy die utilization at San Francisco as the facility ramped up production in response to growing defense mobilization. The 1941-S cent was struck from the traditional 95% copper, 5% tin-zinc bronze composition — a formulation that would be abandoned within two years as copper was diverted to ammunition manufacturing for the war effort. Collectors recognize 1941 as a historically significant date in the Lincoln cent series, marking the threshold between routine peacetime coinage and the dramatic wartime composition changes that would produce the legendary 1943 steel cent.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Keith Christenson
• Cross reference: none. 05/01/2019.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References