RIDB-1c-1996D-01 Cud

Description

First documented retained interior die break on the 1996 Denver Lincoln Memorial Cent, RIDB-1c-1996D-01 captures a die fracture where the broken section remained mechanically held within the die cavity, producing a raised but partially detailed area on struck coins rather than the completely featureless blob characteristic of full separation cuds. Denver struck 6,612,465,000 Lincoln Cents in 1996 — one of the highest mintage figures in the series — using numerous die pairs that collectively absorbed billions of high-speed strikes on zinc-core copper-plated planchets. The retained interior break mechanism differs from rim cuds in both appearance and cause: while rim breaks occur at the die's edge where structural support is weakest, interior breaks develop around design elements where stress concentrates at the boundaries of deeply incused features. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins with no additional cross-references in other attribution systems, this variety carries the sequence number "01," indicating it is the first — and possibly only — retained interior die break documented on 1996-D cents. Frank Gasparro's Lincoln Memorial reverse, with its columned facade and detailed architectural elements, provides natural stress concentration points around the building's features where interior die fractures tend to initiate and propagate during extended production runs.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Brian Bassler
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References