CU-1C-1969D-07 Cud

Description

Bearing the designation CU-1C-1969D-07 from Cuds on Coins, this cud variety on the 1969-D Lincoln Memorial cent documents yet another terminal die failure in Denver's prolific 1969 cent production. The sequential numbering reaching at least seven entries for this single date and mint speaks to the intense production demands placed on dies at the Denver facility. Die steel of this era — typically high-carbon, high-chromium tool steel — was engineered to withstand hundreds of thousands of impressions, but microscopic imperfections in metallurgical structure, combined with the repetitive impact forces of high-speed coining presses, inevitably nucleate cracks that grow with each successive strike. When such a crack reaches the periphery of the die face, the unsupported fragment breaks free under the next impact, creating the characteristic cud. The 1969-D cent holds particular significance as a collectible date because Denver had only recently resumed applying its D mint mark after the three-year hiatus mandated by the Coinage Act of 1965. Collectors seeking cud varieties from this transitional period benefit from the high survival rate typical of circulated cents — many cuds passed through commerce without being noticed, awaiting discovery decades later.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Sullivannumismatics on ebay
• CU-1C-1969D-07
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References