CU-1C-1979-03 Cud

Description

Documented as the third confirmed rim break on 1979 Philadelphia Lincoln Memorial cents, CU-1C-1979-03 continues the cud census cataloged by Cuds on Coins for this landmark date in the denomination's history. Three cuds already represents a meaningful cluster of terminal die failures, and the census extends further — confirming that the 1979 Philadelphia production run was large enough to push a substantial number of dies to their structural limits. The process by which each cud forms is mechanically identical across all instances: the die rim, subjected to repeated compressive loading at production pressures, develops fatigue cracks that propagate to critical length and release a fragment of rim steel. The subsequent striking operations produce coins bearing a raised extrusion of planchet metal in the vacated zone — the unmistakable visual signature of a cud. For CU-1C-1979-03, the specific break location and geometry provide the diagnostic basis for distinguishing this variety from the two preceding entries and the four that follow in the 1979 Philadelphia census. Collectors searching for this variety should examine the rim carefully under magnification, comparing any raised masses against the reference photographs maintained by Cuds on Coins. The 1979 Philadelphia cent — bearing no mint mark in what would be the denomination's final year without one — was struck from 95% copper planchets on presses that had been operating under similar conditions for decades. Attribution by Cuds on Coins.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Erik Pierson
• CU-1C-1979-03
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References