CU-1C-1965-01 Rim Cud

Description

Cataloged as CU-1C-1965-01, this is the first documented cud variety for the 1965 Lincoln cent from the Philadelphia Mint's massive production run of 1,497,224,900 business strike cents. A cud is a raised, featureless lump of metal on a coin created when a piece of the die breaks away at the rim and falls out of the press. The missing die fragment leaves a void that fills with planchet metal during striking, producing a smooth, rounded protrusion that interrupts the normal rim and adjacent design elements. Cuds always originate at the rim because that is the weakest structural point on the die, where the steel has the least supporting material and where the concentrated forces of the striking process create the highest stress. The 1965 Lincoln cent was produced during a period of unprecedented Mint output driven by the national coin shortage of the early 1960s. Congress responded with the Coinage Act of 1965, which removed mint marks from all coins for three years, suspended proof sets in favor of Special Mint Sets, and altered the cent's composition to eliminate tin. The enormous production volume pushed business strike dies through extended service lives, increasing the cumulative stress on the die steel and elevating the frequency of rim fractures that produce cuds. Cross-referenced as CU-1C-1965-01 with a documentation date of 09/01/2013, and attributed by Cuds on Coins. Collectors should examine the rim carefully under magnification, as small cuds can be subtle on well-struck coins from high-speed production runs. Struck on a 3.11-gram, 19mm planchet of 95% copper and 5% zinc.

Attribution History

• CU-1C-1965-01; number: none. 09/01/2013
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References