CU-1C-1980-12 Cud

Description

Twelfth in the Cuds on Coins registry for the 1980 Philadelphia Lincoln Memorial cent, CU-1C-1980-12 documents yet another working die that succumbed to catastrophic rim failure during high-speed production at the Philadelphia Mint. A cud forms when a segment of the die's rim fractures and separates from the die body entirely, leaving a void in the striking surface. Planchets struck by the damaged die receive a raised, featureless blob of metal in the area corresponding to the missing die fragment — a bold, unmistakable anomaly that requires no magnification to detect. The 1980 Philadelphia cent holds particular historical significance as the first year in which the denomination bore the P mintmark, ending nearly two centuries of mintmark-free Philadelphia coinage on the one-cent piece. The sheer volume of confirmed cud varieties for this date — now numbering well into the double digits — reflects the enormous production demands placed on Philadelphia dies during a period of heavy cent circulation. Each cataloged cud represents a unique die that reached terminal failure, and CU-1C-1980-12 is distinguished from its census neighbors by the specific angular position and extent of its rim break. All 1980 cents were struck from the standard 95% copper, 5% zinc alloy. Attribution by Cuds on Coins.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Jeremiah French
• CU-1C-1980-12
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References