CU-1c-1874-02 Cud

Description

Emerging from the Reconstruction era that followed the Civil War, this cud die break documents die failure during routine production at the Philadelphia Mint. The 1874 Indian Head Cent was struck in bronze (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc), the standard alloy adopted in 1864, with a mintage of approximately 14.2 million pieces. Cuds form when a piece of the die rim fractures and falls away, and the resulting void fills with metal during subsequent strikes, creating the characteristic raised featureless blob along the coin's edge. CU-1c-1874-02 is the second documented cud die for this date, cataloged in the Cuds on Coins reference system. Production during the mid-1870s was exclusively at the Philadelphia Mint, as no branch mints struck Indian Head Cents until San Francisco briefly produced them in 1908 and 1909. Each cud die is unique — the position, size, and shape of the rim break distinguishes one from another, and attribution requires comparison against published reference images. No additional cross-references have been recorded.

External References