PC-25c-2006P-01R(ND) Pre-Cud

Description

First pre-cud cataloged for the 2006 (P) North Dakota State Quarter reverse by the Cuds on Coins attribution service, PC-25c-2006P-01R(ND) documents an incipient die rim failure on this issue from the popular fifty-state commemorative program. The catalog code follows the standard Cuds on Coins format: PC for pre-cud, 25c for the quarter denomination, 2006P for the Philadelphia Mint production year, 01 for the first documented specimen, R for the reverse side, and (ND) identifying the North Dakota design. The North Dakota State Quarter reverse, designed by Donna Weaver, depicts two American bison in a rugged badlands landscape with the sun rising over a butte formation — a composition that required deep sculptural relief to render the animals, terrain, and sky with appropriate detail. Pre-cuds capture the earliest stage of die rim deterioration: a crack has formed in the die steel at or near the rim but the fractured section has not yet begun to separate or sink, producing a fine raised line on struck coins that traces the crack path from the rim into the design field. Philadelphia produced approximately 305.8 million North Dakota quarters in 2006, a large production run typical of the State Quarters program that consumed substantial numbers of die pairs across the year. The program's reverses featured unique designs for each state, and the varying complexity of these designs — from simple scenic compositions to intricate multi-element layouts — influenced die longevity differently. The deeply sculpted badlands topography on the North Dakota reverse, with its pronounced landscape contours and two detailed bison figures, placed considerable demand on the die steel during each strike. Collectors should examine the reverse rim under 10x magnification, looking for a fine raised hairline extending from the rim edge inward, indicating where the die crack developed before potentially progressing to a retained cud or full die break in later die states.

Attribution History

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

External References