CU-1C-1969S-01 Cud

Description

First in the Cuds on Coins census for the 1969-S Lincoln Memorial cent, CU-1C-1969S-01 documents a die break where a fragment of the working die separated entirely from the die face at the rim, leaving a cavity that filled with metal during subsequent strikes. The resulting raised, featureless mass on the finished coin replaces whatever design element previously occupied that position — whether a portion of the legend, the date, or Lincoln's portrait. San Francisco's 1969 cent production carried a unique burden among U.S. Mint facilities: the same plant was simultaneously manufacturing both business-strike cents for commerce and proof sets for collectors, requiring separate die inventories and production lines operating under different quality standards. Dies assigned to the business-strike line endured the full punishing cycle of high-speed production, and the progression from microscopic fatigue cracks to terminal die failure followed the same metallurgical inevitability seen at Philadelphia and Denver. CU-1C-1969S-01 as the first-reported cud for this date likely represents a particularly noticeable break that caught a collector's eye early in the variety's documentation history. Cross-referenced solely under its Cuds on Coins designation, this variety serves as the anchor entry for the 1969-S cud census.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Fred Weinberg
• CU-1C-1969S-01
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References