CU-1C-1953D-01 Cud

Description

As the sole 1953-D cud in this batch, CU-1C-1953D-01 stands somewhat apart from the clusters surrounding it in the catalog. The "-01" suffix marks it as the first documented cud for the date, though additional varieties may exist uncataloged — the Cuds on Coins project grows as new specimens surface from collections, rolls, and dealer inventories. By 1953, Brenner's Lincoln Cent design had been in production for forty-four years, and the Wheat reverse — with its paired stalks framing ONE CENT and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA — had become one of the most familiar images in American commerce. A cud on any Wheat Cent disrupts that familiarity with a blunt reminder of the industrial process behind every coin: a steel die, subjected to thousands of high-pressure impacts, eventually failed at its weakest point. The raised mass of metal occupies space where letters, digits, or design elements would normally appear, and the specific location on this variety distinguishes it from cuds on neighboring dates. Denver's 1953 cent output continued the robust production levels of the postwar decade, ensuring ample die usage and the occasional rim failure that produces collectible cud varieties.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Chuck Newman
• CU-1C-1953D-01
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References