CU-1C-1973D-01 Cud

Description

Designated CU-1C-1973D-01 in the Cuds on Coins catalog, this is the first documented obverse cud variety for the 1973 Denver Mint Lincoln Memorial cent. A cud forms when a piece of the die rim breaks away entirely, leaving an open void at the die's edge. During striking, planchet metal flows unrestricted into this void, producing a raised, featureless blob of metal that partially replaces the normal design elements along the rim of the finished coin. Because the break is at the die's periphery, cuds always appear adjacent to the rim — their shape, size, and clock-position on the coin serve as the primary diagnostics for distinguishing one cud variety from another. The absence of the "R" suffix in this catalog number indicates that the break occurred on the obverse die, meaning the cud appears on the portrait side of the coin. Denver's 1973 production of approximately 3.55 billion cents required sustained operation of hundreds of die pairs, each subjected to enormous repetitive stress. Dies operating under these conditions were prone to rim fractures, particularly at points where design elements intersected the die's edge and created stress concentrators. CU-1C-1973D-01 documents the first cataloged instance of such a failure on a 1973-D obverse die, establishing the baseline entry for what would grow into a seven-variety census of Denver Mint cuds for this date. Collectors should note the specific clock-position and arc-length of the cud when attempting attribution to this particular catalog number.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Heritage Auction
• CU-1C-1973D-01
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References