CU-1C-1840-01 Rim Cud

Description

First documented cud on the 1840 Braided Hair Coronet Head Cent (Small Date variety), CU-1C-1840-01 records a rim-level die break on one of the early dates of Christian Gobrecht's redesigned large cent. The 1840 issue exists in two date-size variants — Small Date and Large Date — produced from different date logotypes punched into the working dies, and this cud occurs specifically on the Small Date subtype. No cross-references beyond the Cuds on Coins designation have been established. Large copper cents of this era were struck on substantial 27.5mm planchets weighing approximately 10.89 grams of pure copper, requiring considerable striking force to fully impress Gobrecht's detailed design — Liberty's braided hair, the encircling thirteen stars, and the date all demanded sharp die impressions that concentrated stress at the die rim. The 1840 Braided Hair Cent falls in the second year of the redesigned series (introduced mid-1839), when dies were still being refined for the new portrait style that replaced the earlier Matron Head design. Die manufacturing technology in the 1840s relied on hand-engraved master dies and mechanical transfer methods that, while sophisticated for their era, produced working dies with stress concentrations and metallurgical inconsistencies that made rim fractures a relatively common mode of failure. The "01" catalog suffix confirms this as the first distinct cud variety identified for the 1840 date, establishing a baseline entry for future discoveries on this date-mint combination. Surviving examples carry both the numismatic interest of a pre-Civil War large cent and the variety premium of a documented major die break.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Friscomint1793 on eBay
• CU-1C-1840-01; none
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References