1848 Braided Hair Large Cent Newcomb-6 Reverse Pre-Cud

Description

Cross-referenced as Newcomb N-6 in the Newcomb classification system for Braided Hair Large Cents, this 1848 specimen displays a pre-cud on the reverse — a die crack pattern that has developed along the rim in a configuration that would eventually lead to a full cud break if the die had continued in service. Pre-cuds represent an intermediate stage of die failure: the fracture lines have propagated through the die steel far enough to outline the area where a piece would eventually separate, but the fragment has not yet broken away. In this case, the die crack runs from the rim near the letter A through the letters MER in AMERICA and back to the rim by the letter I, tracing a path that defines the boundary of what would have become a substantial cud covering a significant portion of the reverse legend. The Braided Hair Large Cent, designed by Christian Gobrecht based on earlier Liberty Head concepts, was struck at the Philadelphia Mint — the only operating mint facility for copper coinage in 1848. Each large cent weighs approximately 10.89 grams with a diameter of 27.5 mm, struck in pure copper. The Newcomb variety numbering system, established by Howard R. Newcomb in his reference work on United States Copper Cents 1816-1857, provides the standard die variety identification for Braided Hair Large Cents, with N-6 designating this specific obverse-reverse die combination. Pre-cuds are collected by error specialists as documentation of the die failure process, providing insight into how stress fractures propagate through 19th-century die steel under the repeated impact loads of striking operations. The crack path through AMERICA illustrates how die fractures often follow trajectories connecting design elements where stress concentrations develop.

Attribution History

• Discovered by NumisDexDealer
• Newcomb N-6