CU-1c-1803-04B Cud

Description

Robert Scot's Draped Bust design, America's third cent motif following the Chain and Wreath types, hosts CU-1c-1803-04B — the fourth cataloged cud (variant B) on the 1803 large cent bearing the distinctive 100/000 fraction error. The host coin itself is a celebrated variety: the fraction denominator was overpunched with three zeroes instead of two, creating the anomalous 1/000 fraction that has attracted collectors since the nineteenth century. A cud superimposed on this already-rare fraction variety creates a compound numismatic artifact documenting two distinct die anomalies. The Philadelphia Mint struck approximately 3,131,691 large cents in 1803, each hand-fed into a screw press that operated far slower than modern coining presses, yet generated sufficient force to fracture copper dies. The "04B" designation indicates this is the second sub-variant within the fourth cud family, suggesting progressive documentation of different die states or break characteristics. No additional cross-references exist beyond the primary designation. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins, CU-1c-1803-04B bridges the earliest era of American numismatics with modern systematic variety research, applying twenty-first-century classification methods to coins struck during Thomas Jefferson's first presidential term.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Friscomint1793 on eBay
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References