1862 Indian Head Cent - CU-1c-1862-014 Cud

Description

Struck during the first full year of the American Civil War, this 1862 Indian Head Cent cud carries historical weight beyond its numismatic significance. Fourteen documented cuds for the 1862 date — this being number 014 in the Cuds on Coins catalog — reflect the Philadelphia Mint's intensive wartime production as the government struggled to keep circulating coinage available amid widespread hoarding of hard money. James Barton Longacre's Indian Head design, featuring Lady Liberty wearing a Native American headdress, was in just its fourth year of production in 1862, and the copper-nickel composition used at the time (88% copper, 12% nickel) created different die stress patterns than the later bronze version introduced in 1864. A cud forms when a section of the die rim fractures and separates completely, leaving a cavity that fills with metal during striking to produce a raised featureless mass at the coin's edge. The Indian Head Cent series (1859-1909) is one of the most actively collected nineteenth-century U.S. coin types, and die varieties from Civil War dates carry particular collector interest due to their production context.

Cross References

• Cross reference number: none. See CU-1c-1862-014.

External References