1842 Seated Liberty Half Dollar - Small Date, Rev of 1842 - CU-50c-1842-01R Rim Cud

Description

Among the earliest-dated cud varieties in the Cuds on Coins catalog, this rim cud appears on an 1842 Seated Liberty Half Dollar of the Small Date, Reverse of 1842 variety. Struck during the pre-Civil War era when Philadelphia was the primary production facility for silver coinage, the 1842 half dollar was produced in 90% silver composition. A rim cud represents the loss of part of the die's rim gutter at the outermost perimeter of the die face, where the cross-section of die steel is thinnest and most vulnerable to fracture propagation under repeated coining press tonnage; on the coin it appears as a raised interruption in the design rim that tracks the rim's course. The Small Date, Reverse of 1842 designation identifies a specific hub combination used that year, distinguishing it from the Large Date and Reverse of 1839 pairing also known for 1842. No separate cross-reference has been recorded. Die failures on early federal silver coinage from the 1840s are comparatively rare in the cud literature, as surviving examples compete with the inherent scarcity and collector premium of the host coin. The CU-50c-1842-01R designation identifies this as the first cataloged reverse rim cud for the 1842 half dollar.

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