CU-1C-1968D-02 Cud

Description

Designated CU-1C-1968D-02, this is the second documented cud variety for the 1968-D Lincoln Memorial cent — struck at the Denver Mint during the landmark year when mint marks returned to American coinage after the three-year Coinage Act of 1965 hiatus. A cud is a raised, featureless blob of metal that forms when a section of the die rim fractures and separates from the die body, leaving an open cavity that fills with planchet metal under striking pressure. The resulting mass is typically smooth and shapeless, its outline corresponding precisely to the geometry of the missing die fragment. Because the die is a negative image of the finished coin, the loss of rim steel translates directly into an addition of metal on the coin's surface. Cuds represent one of the most visually dramatic categories of die error: unlike doubled dies or repunched mint marks that require magnification for confident identification, a well-developed cud is immediately obvious to the unaided eye. The 1968-D cent was the first Denver Mint cent to carry the D mint mark since the 1964 coinage, and the resumption of production at Denver introduced fresh die populations whose service histories had no precedent in the immediately preceding years. Cross-referenced as CU-1C-1968D-02 and attributed by Cuds on Coins. Struck on a 3.11-gram, 19mm planchet of 95% copper and 5% zinc at the Denver Mint.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Steve Young
• CU-1C-1968D-02
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References