CU-1C-1970S-05 Rim Cud

Description

Specifically classified as a rim cud rather than a standard cud, CU-1C-1970S-05 on the 1970-S Lincoln Memorial cent documents a shallow die break confined primarily to the rim area of a Large Date business strike. The rim cud designation indicates that the fracture did not penetrate deeply into the design field but instead affected mainly the raised rim zone — the outermost perimeter of the die where compressive forces concentrate during striking as the die simultaneously forms the coin's raised edge and contains the radial flow of metal. Rim cuds represent the earliest and most localized stage of die failure at the perimeter: a relatively small fragment separates from the rim area, producing a modest raised blob along a short arc of the coin's edge rather than the larger, more visually dramatic mass associated with full interior cuds. This subtlety makes rim cuds more challenging to spot during casual examination but equally significant as documentation of die deterioration mechanics. CU-1C-1970S-05's rim-specific break pattern captures a failure mode where the fracture was arrested before it could propagate deeper into the die face — either because the die was removed from service after the break was detected, or because the fracture geometry naturally limited its inward growth.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Louis A
• CU-1C-1970S-05
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References