1863 Indian Head Cent Reverse Cud (9 to 10 o'clock)

Description

A reverse cud at approximately the 9 to 10 o'clock position marks this 1863 Indian Head cent. Cuds form when a section of the die face fractures and breaks away at the rim, leaving a void that fills with planchet metal during striking — producing a raised, featureless mass at the coin's edge. Because the fractured area bears no design, struck coins show a corresponding blank raised area where design elements would otherwise appear. The 1863 Indian Head cent was struck in the copper-nickel composition — 88% copper, 12% nickel — used for cents from 1857 through 1864, before the mid-1864 transition to bronze. Indian Head cents of the Civil War era saw heavy circulation during a period of acute coin shortages, as civilian hoarding of silver and copper coinage drove small change from circulation throughout the conflict. Error coins from this period are comparatively difficult to locate in collectible grades due to the attrition of heavy use. A reverse cud on an 1863 copper-nickel Indian Head cent represents an uncommon error type on a historically significant Civil War-era issue. A cud occurs when a piece of the die breaks away at the rim, and the planchet metal flows into the resulting void. Civil War-era hoarding meant dies were run far beyond normal use, producing an unusually high number of die breaks and deterioration errors.