CU-1c-1865-06R Cud

Description

Located at the 6 o'clock position on the reverse — the bottom of the coin — this cud on the 1865 Indian Head Cent Plain 5 records a rim fracture at a different location from the 02R cud documented on the same sub-variety. The 6 o'clock reverse position places this die break near the lower portion of the wreath and denomination area, where design elements crowd against the rim and can create stress concentrations in the die steel. Cuds at position 6 can be particularly visually striking because they occupy the coin's bottom edge, a natural resting point for the eye. The CU-1c-1865-06R designation within the Cuds on Coins census distinguishes this by position from the 02R break, and because it appears on the Plain 5 sub-variety rather than the Fancy 5, it identifies a specific die pair. Bronze composition Indian Head Cents from 1865 were struck at Philadelphia during the final months of the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction, a period when the Mint was ramping up cent production to replace the tokens and fractional currency that had substituted for small change during wartime hoarding. The Plain 5 date punch, with its straightforward numeral styling, helps collectors immediately distinguish this die pair from Fancy 5 specimens when examining date diagnostics.

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