CU-1C-1985-21 Cud

Description

The relationship between die cracks and cuds is one of progression rather than category — a distinction important for understanding CU-1C-1985-21 on the 1985 Philadelphia Lincoln Memorial cent and its place in die failure taxonomy. Die cracks appear as raised lines on the struck coin, tracing the path of fractures in the die face that have not yet resulted in material separation. These cracks may remain stable for thousands of additional strikes, slowly widening, or they may rapidly propagate to the rim and connect with other cracks to define a breakaway section. When that section separates, the crack becomes a cud. Numismatic nomenclature distinguishes between interior die cracks (fully within the die face, not reaching the rim), rim die cracks (extending from an interior point to the rim), and cuds (a crack system that has enclosed and released a section of the die). Some dies exhibit all three stages on a single struck coin — interior cracks in one area, rim cracks in another, and an active cud at a third location — documenting simultaneous failure processes at different stages of development. Collectors who locate pre-cud die crack specimens from the same die create valuable die-state sequences showing the fracture's progression. Struck at Philadelphia on copper-plated zinc planchets at 2.5 grams and 19mm from the 1985 mintage of approximately 5.65 billion cents.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Geoffrey Noe
• CU-1C-1985-21
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References