CU-1C-2016-01 Cud

Description

Cataloged as CU-1C-2016-01, this rim cud on a 2016 Philadelphia Lincoln Shield Cent documents the first reported cud variety for the date. Cuds are among the most visually dramatic die errors encountered on modern coinage — the raised, shapeless mass of metal that replaces a section of the normal design is often visible to the unaided eye, making cuds one of the few die-break varieties that can be spotted without magnification during roll searching or circulation finds. The mechanism behind every cud is die fatigue: repeated high-pressure strikes against planchets cause stress fractures in the hardened steel die, and when a crack propagates from the interior of the die face to the rim, the enclosed section can break free. Once that fragment separates, the cavity it leaves fills with metal during each subsequent strike, producing the characteristic raised blank area. The 2016 Lincoln Shield Cent, designed by Lyndall Bass with Union Shield reverse sculpted by Joseph Menna, was produced in substantial quantities at Philadelphia, and the volume of production inherently increases the probability that some working dies will develop rim fractures during their service life.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Chris Freda & Dan Burby
• CU-1C-2016-01
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References