PC-250c(Au)-1851-01 Pre-Cud

Description

An 1851 Liberty Head Gold Quarter Eagle bearing a pre-cud — an internal die crack that has not yet broken through to the rim — represents one of the earliest-dated gold coins documented in the Cuds on Coins catalog. Designated PC-250c(Au)-1851-01, this pre-cud on the Liberty Head Quarter Eagle series (1840-1907) dates from the height of the California Gold Rush era, when massive quantities of newly discovered gold flooded into the Philadelphia Mint for coinage. The Liberty Head design by Christian Gobrecht features Liberty wearing a coronet inscribed LIBERTY on the obverse, with a heraldic eagle and shield on the reverse. Unlike the later Indian Head Quarter Eagle with its incuse design, the Liberty Head carries conventional raised relief, meaning the pre-cud die crack transfers to struck coins as a raised line or ridge across the surface. Pre-cuds represent an intermediate stage of die deterioration — the die has cracked internally but the section beyond the crack has not yet broken away to create the raised blob of displaced metal that characterizes a full cud. Had the die remained in service longer, this pre-cud would likely have progressed to a complete cud with a raised mass at the rim. Struck in 90% gold at 18mm and 4.18 grams — a diminutive gold coin from the early years of America's greatest gold strike.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Mainepaper (eBay)
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References