1844 Braided Hair Coronet Head Cent - CU-1c-1844-02 Rim Cud

Description

CU-1c-1844-02 was cataloged by Cuds on Coins as a die break on the Braided Hair Coronet Head cent, a large copper coin designed by Christian Gobrecht. No cross-references to other cataloging systems exist for this variety. The 1844 large cent was struck at Philadelphia with a mintage of 2.40 million pieces. Large cents of the Braided Hair type (1839-1857) were the last of the oversized copper cents, measuring approximately 28mm in diameter and weighing about 10.9 grams. Their substantial size and pure copper composition made them particularly susceptible to rim-area die failures, as the combination of large die face area and malleable planchet material concentrated stress at the die's periphery during each strike. The Braided Hair obverse displays Liberty facing left with an elaborately braided hairstyle and a coronet inscribed LIBERTY, surrounded by thirteen six-pointed stars. The reverse features a wreath enclosing the denomination ONE CENT within a border of beads. Rim cuds on large cents are visually prominent due to the coin's size, with even modest breaks creating noticeable raised areas that disrupt the stars, date, or wreath elements depending on their position. Pre-Civil War copper errors represent a small but dedicated collecting niche, and the 1844 date falls during the pre-California Gold Rush period when the Philadelphia Mint was the nation's sole active facility for cent production.

External References