CU-500c(Au)-1855C-01R Rim Cud

Description

First documented reverse rim cud for the 1855 Charlotte Mint Liberty Head Half Eagle ($5 gold coin), this die break occurred on one of the rarest mintmark-date combinations in the gold coin series. A rim cud forms when a section of the die breaks away at the rim, and the resulting cavity fills with metal during striking to produce a raised featureless mass at the coin's edge. On a gold coin, where each planchet carries intrinsic precious metal value, die breaks are of heightened numismatic significance because the Mint would typically have removed severely damaged dies more quickly than with base-metal coinage — making surviving cud examples scarcer relative to mintage. The Charlotte Mint in North Carolina operated from 1838 to 1861, exclusively striking gold coins from deposits sourced from the southeastern gold belt. Charlotte Mint coins are universally scarce, as production volumes were a tiny fraction of Philadelphia's output, and the 1855-C Half Eagle is no exception. The "C" mintmark is among the most coveted in American numismatics, with every Charlotte coin considered at minimum scarce and many dates genuinely rare. The Liberty Head Half Eagle design, featuring Christian Gobrecht's coronet-style Liberty, was struck from 1839 through 1908 — one of the longest-running designs in U.S. gold coinage. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins, this rim cud on a Charlotte gold coin represents an intersection of die variety collecting and gold coin numismatics that is exceptionally unusual.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Heritage Auction
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References