PC-1c-1862-07R Pre-Cud

Description

Documented by the Cuds on Coins attribution service, PC-1c-1862-07R records the seventh cataloged reverse pre-cud on the 1862 Indian Head cent. The designation follows the systematic naming convention: PC for pre-cud, 1c for the one-cent denomination, 1862 for the date, and 07R indicating the seventh identified reverse pre-cud for this issue. Seven cataloged reverse pre-cuds for a single date is a notably deep census, suggesting either that the 1862 reverse dies were particularly prone to rim-area cracking or that the date has received intensive scrutiny from die break specialists. James B. Longacre designed the Indian Head cent, which features Liberty wearing a Native American headdress on the obverse and an oak wreath encircling ONE CENT with a shield at the top on the reverse (for the 1860-1909 type). Philadelphia struck approximately 28.08 million Indian Head cents in 1862, the second year of the Civil War, when demand for small change was complicated by widespread coin hoarding that led to the disappearance of most gold and silver coins from circulation. Pre-cuds develop when the die steel begins to fracture near the rim — the area of maximum stress during striking, where the die edge meets the collar and the metal flow from the planchet creates outward pressure against the die boundary. The raised, slightly irregular area on the struck coin marks where the die crack has weakened the surface without yet allowing metal to escape into the gap, distinguishing pre-cuds from full cuds where the broken die fragment has separated enough to allow planchet metal to fill the void. The 07R position in the catalog indicates substantial die break documentation for this Civil War-era date.

External References