CU-25c-2003P-01R(AL) Rim Cud

Description

First documented reverse rim cud on the 2003-P Alabama State Quarter, CU-25c-2003P-01R(AL) records the earliest-cataloged die rim fracture on this state's commemorative quarter design. Alabama, the twenty-second state admitted to the Union in 1819, received its State Quarter in 2003 as part of the Mint's decade-long program that issued five new state reverses annually from 1999 through 2008. The Alabama reverse, designed by Norman E. Nemeth, depicts Helen Keller seated with her name in both English and braille, accompanied by the state motto "Spirit of Courage" and a longleaf pine branch — detailed design elements that create stress concentration points around the die's rim where fractures can initiate under repeated high-speed striking. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins with no additional cross-references, the "01R" suffix indicates this is the first reverse rim cud documented for the 2003-P Alabama issue, establishing the baseline entry in what would eventually include at least two documented reverse cuds for this date-mint-state combination. The Philadelphia Mint's substantial 2003 quarter production — running multiple high-speed presses simultaneously — subjected die pairs to billions of cumulative strikes, making rim fractures a statistical inevitability across the production run. Rim cuds on State Quarters are actively collected as a specialty, with dedicated registries tracking known examples across all fifty state designs.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Steve Young
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References