PC-1c-1955S-13R Pre-Cud

Description

Thirteenth in the pre-cud census for the 1955-S Lincoln wheat cent, PC-1c-1955S-13R documents a reverse die that developed an incipient rim fracture during the final years of the wheat reverse's production life. The Cuds on Coins designation follows the standard naming convention: PC for pre-cud, 1c for the one-cent denomination, 1955S for the San Francisco date, and 13R indicating the thirteenth reverse pre-cud cataloged for this issue. Victor David Brenner's wheat ears reverse, flanking ONE CENT with E PLURIBUS UNUM above, was entering its last three years of production in 1955 before the transition to Frank Gasparro's Lincoln Memorial reverse in 1959. San Francisco struck approximately 44.61 million cents in 1955, continuing the facility's role as a secondary mint for cent production. The 1955-S date is often overshadowed by its Philadelphia counterpart — the famous 1955 Doubled Die Obverse that ranks among the most valuable and recognizable twentieth-century coin varieties — but the San Francisco issue maintains its own variety census including this substantial pre-cud documentation. Pre-cuds develop when die steel fractures near the rim under the accumulated stress of millions of striking cycles, producing a raised but still-connected area on struck coins where the incipient crack has weakened the die surface without allowing full metal separation. Thirteen documented reverse pre-cuds suggests multiple reverse dies experienced rim-area cracking during the 1955-S production run, each fracture developing independently at different positions along the die periphery and at different points in the die's service life. Collectors encounter pre-cuds as subtle rim anomalies that require careful examination to distinguish from post-strike damage or normal die wear.

Attribution History

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

External References