1853 Braided Hair Coronet Head Cent - CU-1C-1853-01 Rim Cud

Description

CU-1C-1853-01 documents die rim failure on an 1853 Braided Hair Coronet Head Cent; 1853 saw the passage of legislation reducing the weight of the silver half dime, dime, quarter and half dollar, four years before the large cent was ended. 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. As a rim cud, it represents the loss of part of the die's rim gutter, which shows on struck coins as a raised interruption in the design rim that tracks the rim's course — a visual contrast against the detailed obverse stars and reverse wreath that attracted early collectors to these varieties well before systematic documentation programs existed.

Cross References

• CU-1C-1853-01

External References