RCD-1c-1955-17R Retained Cud

Description

Seventeen documented retained cuds for the 1955 Philadelphia Lincoln Wheat Cent place RCD-1c-1955-17R at a relatively high sequence number reflecting meaningful die failure activity. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins, this retained cud formed when a die crack propagated to the rim and the resulting fragment broke partially free while remaining captured in the die cavity, producing a raised irregular mass on each subsequent strike. The deformation partially obscures the underlying design while preserving a ghostly trace of features the retained fragment once bore. Seventeen retained cuds exceeds the count for many comparable Wheat Cent years, though it remains below the extraordinary totals generated by the 1943 steel issues. The 1955 date is indelibly associated with the famous DDO-001, but the die failure record tells a parallel story of production stress through entirely different mechanisms. Philadelphia's 1955 cent used the standard bronze composition of 95% copper, 5% tin-zinc on the Wheat Cent reverse that had fewer than four years remaining before its replacement by the Memorial motif in 1959.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Chuck Newman
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References