CU-5c-1981P-02 Cud

Description

Cataloged as CU-5c-1981P-02 and cross-referenced to JNC-81P-2 in the Jefferson Nickel Cud registry, this 1981 Philadelphia five-cent piece preserves a rim cud from the opening years of the Reagan administration. A cud forms when a fragment of the die rim fractures and separates entirely, leaving a void that strikes as a raised, featureless plateau on the finished coin. Felix Schlag's Jefferson portrait and Monticello reverse, in continuous production since 1938, provided the design framework for over four decades of five-cent coinage by this date. The 1981 Philadelphia Nickel was struck on planchets of 75% copper and 25% nickel, the standard composition adopted in 1866. Each JNC catalog number corresponds to a unique working die that developed its own fracture during press operations, and the 81P-2 designation confirms at least two distinct cud-producing dies served this date. Cuds on Jefferson Nickels tend to appear along the rim adjacent to high-relief design elements, where stress concentrations in the die steel accelerate crack propagation.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Fred Weinberg
• Cross reference number: JNC-81P-2.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References