CU-5c-1962D-02 Cud

Description

Added to the Cuds on Coins database on October 1, 2017, CU-5c-1962D-02 represents the second documented cud variety for the 1962-D Jefferson nickel, joining CU-5c-1962D-01 (which was cataloged in 2013) in the error census for this date. No cross-references with other attribution systems have been established. The four-year gap between the documentation of the first and second 1962-D cuds illustrates how the variety census continues to grow over time as new specimens are discovered, submitted, and attributed. Denver produced 280.2 million nickels in 1962, a figure that was about to increase dramatically as the coin shortage of the mid-1960s pushed production to unprecedented levels. The 1962-D nickel represents the final full year before the crisis intensified in 1963-1964, when mintages skyrocketed and mintmarks were temporarily removed. Felix Schlag's Monticello reverse had been in use for twenty-four years by 1962, and the dies produced that year used the same hubbing and hardening processes that had been standard practice for decades. Each new cud variety discovered for a given date enriches the production history: two documented cuds for 1962-D confirm that at least two different dies experienced rim failures during the year's production, and the position, size, and severity of each cud contribute to a broader understanding of die failure patterns across the Jefferson nickel series. The ongoing expansion of the cud census decades after the coins were struck underscores the depth of the die variety collecting community's commitment to documenting every detectable production anomaly.

Attribution History

• Discovered by David Harrison
• Cross reference: none. 10/01/2017.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References