CU-100c-1979D-05 Rim Cud

Description

Fifth rim cud documented on the 1979 Denver Susan B. Anthony Dollar, CU-100c-1979D-05 records die fracture activity on the first year of this controversial small dollar design. The Susan B. Anthony Dollar, introduced in 1979 as a replacement for the large Eisenhower Dollar, was immediately criticized for its similarity in size to the quarter dollar — a design flaw that limited public acceptance and contributed to the denomination's discontinuation after 1981 (with a brief revival in 1999). Denver struck 288,015,744 SBA Dollars in 1979, a massive initial output that reflected optimistic government projections about public adoption. Cuds on Coins cataloged this variety with no additional cross-references, the "100c" denomination code identifying it as a dollar coin. Five documented cuds for the 1979-D date suggests significant die fracture activity during the inaugural production run, possibly related to the new denomination's die geometry — the small dollar's reduced diameter compared to the Eisenhower Dollar required new die configurations, and the eleven-sided inner border (hendecagonal reeded edge) introduced an unusual geometric element that may have affected stress distribution within the die. Frank Gasparro designed both the Susan B. Anthony obverse portrait and the heraldic eagle reverse, adapting the Apollo 11 mission insignia that had also appeared on the Eisenhower Dollar reverse. Each of the five documented cuds represents an independent die fracture event across Denver's extensive 1979 production run.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Chuck Newman
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References