CU-5c-1966-03 Cud

Description

Third cud cataloged on the 1966 Jefferson Nickel, CU-5c-1966-03 documents a retained die break where a fragment of the die rim fractured and remained partially in place, producing a raised mass of unstruck metal along the coin's edge. The 1966 Jefferson Nickel was struck during a pivotal period in U.S. Mint history: from 1965 through 1967, Congress mandated the removal of all mint marks from circulating coins as part of the government's response to a severe nationwide coin shortage fueled by silver hoarding and speculative accumulation. Without mint marks, 1966 nickels cannot be attributed to a specific facility by examination alone, though production occurred at Philadelphia and Denver. Cuds on Jefferson Nickels tend to appear along the rim sections adjacent to high-relief design elements, where die stress concentrates during repeated strikes. As the third documented cud for this date, CU-5c-1966-03 demonstrates that the dies used for 1966 nickel production experienced multiple rim fractures — a pattern consistent with the extended production runs required to address the coin shortage that had prompted the mint mark removal policy in the first place.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Peter Lukic
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References