CU-5c-1984P-03 Rim Cud

Description

Third documented rim cud for the 1984 Philadelphia Mint Jefferson Nickel, this variety preserves the dramatic result of a complete die rim separation — where a fragment of the die edge broke away entirely, leaving a cavity that filled with metal on every subsequent strike to produce a raised, featureless blob at the coin's edge. The CU prefix in the Cuds on Coins catalog designates full cud status, distinguishing it from retained cuds (RCD) where the fragment stays attached, pre-cuds (PC) where only a crack has formed, and interior die breaks (IDB) that occur away from the rim. Three documented rim cuds for a single date and mint indicates the 1984-P nickel dies experienced multiple instances of rim failure, consistent with the mechanical stresses inherent in high-volume coin production. The 1984 Philadelphia Mint struck over 746 million nickels, employing numerous die pairs across extended production runs. Felix Schlag's Jefferson Nickel design, which debuted in 1938 after Schlag won a public competition, was in its forty-sixth year of continuous production by 1984 — among the longest design runs for any U.S. coin denomination at that time. Rim cuds on Jefferson Nickels are collected as part of the broader die break specialty, and the relatively large diameter of the nickel (21.2mm) compared to the cent means cuds tend to produce proportionally sized raised masses that are visually striking even without magnification.

Attribution History

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

External References