CU-1C-1853-01 Rim Cud

Description

First cataloged rim cud on the 1853 Braided Hair Coronet Head Cent, CU-1C-1853-01 documents die rim failure from a pivotal year in American monetary history — 1853 saw the passage of legislation reducing the weight of the silver half dime, dime, quarter, and half dollar, foreshadowing the broader coinage reforms that would eliminate the large cent entirely four years later. Philadelphia struck 6,641,131 large cents in 1853, one of the higher mintages in the final decade of the denomination, as the Mint worked to supply an expanding economy with circulating copper coinage. Christian Gobrecht's Braided Hair design had been in production for fourteen years by this point, and the die preparation methods — hand engraving from steel hubs, followed by individual die finishing — produced dies of variable quality that were susceptible to rim fractures during extended production runs. The large cent's 27.5mm diameter required dies that could withstand substantial lateral stress during each strike, and the rim area where the die face meets the collar bore the highest concentration of these forces. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins under cross-reference CU-1C-1853-01, the "01" designation indicates this was the first rim break discovered for the 1853 date. The cud's location at the die rim created the characteristic raised featureless blob on struck coins — a dramatic visual contrast against the detailed obverse stars and reverse wreath that attracted early collectors to these varieties well before systematic documentation programs existed.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Friscomint1793 on eBay
• CU-1C-1853-01
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References