RCD-1c-2016-01 Retained Cud

Description

First in the retained cud census for the 2016 Lincoln Shield cent, RCD-1c-2016-01 preserves evidence of a die fracture where the broken segment remained attached to the die face during continued striking operations. When a working die develops a crack extending from the rim into the design field, the broken piece may stay in place rather than separating entirely — held by friction, residual metal connections, or the mechanical constraint of the die collar. Coins struck from such a die display a raised irregular ridge tracing the fracture path, often accompanied by slight displacement of the design elements within the retained fragment area. The 2016 Philadelphia cent carries the Union Shield reverse designed by Lyndall Bass, introduced in 2010 to celebrate Lincoln's preservation of the United States as a single, united country. Philadelphia produced approximately 6.57 billion cents in 2016, driving intensive die usage across the production year. The Cuds on Coins catalog systematically documents these die failure varieties with standardized designations that encode the denomination (1c), date (2016), and sequence number (01), enabling collectors and researchers to track die failure patterns across the entire Lincoln cent series. Retained cuds occupy an interesting position in die variety collecting because they represent a transitional failure state — earlier than a full cud where the broken piece has separated, but more advanced than a simple die crack. Examination under 10-15x magnification should reveal the fracture boundary as a raised line extending from the rim, with the area within the retained fragment potentially showing slight elevation or surface irregularity relative to the surrounding design.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Mike Diamond
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References