CU-1c-2009-01 Cud

Description

Lincoln's bicentennial year of 2009 introduced four rotating reverse designs celebrating different periods of the sixteenth president's life, and this Philadelphia-struck Early Childhood issue developed a cud — a major die break at the rim where die steel separated completely, producing a raised featureless area on struck coins. CU-1c-2009-01 is the first cataloged cud for the entire 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial Cent series, a distinction that reflects the relative scarcity of documented die breaks on these special commemorative issues compared to the hundreds of cuds recorded on standard Lincoln cent dates. The Early Childhood reverse, designed by Richard Masters and sculpted by Jim Licaretz, depicts a young Lincoln in front of the Kentucky log cabin where he was born — a detailed pastoral scene with thin raised design elements that created concentrated stress points on the die surface. No additional cross-references have been established for this variety beyond the primary Cuds on Coins designation. The 2009 cent program was unique in modern coinage history: four different reverse designs circulated simultaneously, each honoring a chapter in Lincoln's life, while the obverse retained Victor David Brenner's classic 1909 portrait. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins, this cud documents that even the carefully prepared dies for this high-profile anniversary program were not immune to the mechanical realities of rim-area die fracture.

Attribution History

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

External References