CU-1C-1981-07 Cud

Description

Cataloged as the seventh confirmed cud variety for the 1981 Philadelphia Lincoln Memorial cent, CU-1C-1981-07 continues a census that documents the cumulative toll of billions of striking cycles on Philadelphia's die inventory. Die steel, however carefully hardened and tempered, has finite fatigue life — microscopic cracks nucleate at stress concentration points along the rim during normal production, and these cracks propagate with each subsequent strike until a critical size is reached and a rim segment fractures away. The resulting cud is both a record of metallurgical failure and a collecting opportunity, as the raised featureless blob it creates on struck coins is dramatic, unmistakable, and permanent. CU-1C-1981-07 was cataloged by Cuds on Coins after its break was confirmed as a previously undocumented die, distinct in position from all six earlier census entries for this date. As the last full year of copper cent production, 1981 cents weigh 3.1 grams and are composed of 95% copper with 5% zinc — a composition that would give way to the copper-plated zinc format during 1982. Attribution by Cuds on Coins.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Keynumis on ebay
• CU-1C-1981-07
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References