CU-1C-1974D-08 Cud

Description

Designated CU-1C-1974D-08 in the Cuds on Coins catalog, this eighth cud variety for the 1974 Denver Mint Lincoln Memorial cent continues the extensive documentation of die rim failures from Denver's record-setting production year. By the eighth cataloged entry, the 1974-D date had already established itself as one of the most comprehensively documented dates for cud varieties in the entire Lincoln cent series, and five more entries would follow to bring the total to thirteen. This breadth of documentation provides numismatic researchers with a valuable dataset for understanding the frequency and distribution of rim failures across a large population of dies operated under industrial production conditions. CU-1C-1974D-08 documents a die whose rim steel fractured at a specific angular position around its circumference, producing the classic cud presentation: a raised, design-free mass of metal projecting from the coin's rim where planchet metal flowed into the void left by the missing die segment. The coin's remaining design elements — those outside the break zone — appear normal, struck from the intact portions of the die pair. This juxtaposition of normal design and featureless raised metal is the hallmark visual characteristic of a cud, immediately distinguishable from other rim anomalies such as die cracks (which produce fine raised lines) or broadstrikes (which affect the entire rim circumference). Collectors encountering a 1974-D cent with a potential cud should carefully document the clock-position and angular extent of the break, then compare these measurements against the thirteen cataloged entries to determine which specific variety they hold.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Greg Bowyer
• CU-1C-1974D-08
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References