CU-1C-1990-04 Cud

Description

Building the cud census for 1990 Philadelphia cents, CU-1C-1990-04 documents another obverse die break from a year when the Philadelphia Mint was operating at peak capacity for cent production. The economic context of 1990 cent production matters for understanding cud prevalence: the U.S. economy was entering a recession in the second half of the year, but cent demand remained robust because the denomination's role in daily commerce — vending machines, cash register transactions, and sales tax calculations — kept Mint production orders consistently high regardless of broader economic conditions. High production volume translates directly to high die consumption, and high die consumption increases the absolute number of dies that will develop fatigue fractures during their service life. Each cud cataloged for a given date represents not just a collectible variety but a data point in the statistical relationship between production volume and die failure rates. Collectors pursuing 1990 Philadelphia cuds benefit from the date's substantial surviving population — billions of coins struck means a proportionally large number of cud specimens entered circulation. Struck on copper-plated zinc planchets composed of 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper, weighing 2.5 grams and measuring 19mm.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Chuck Newman
• CU-1C-1990-04
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References