RRDC-1c-1864-01 Cud

Description

During the Civil War year of 1864, the Philadelphia Mint transitioned Indian Head Cent production from copper-nickel to bronze composition — and RRDC-1c-1864-01 documents a cud error on the bronze "No L" variety, struck before James Longacre's initial L was added to the ribbon of his Indian Head design later that year. Cuds on Coins cataloged this as the first cud for the 1864 Bronze No L cent, with a reporting date of February 1, 2014 and no additional cross-references. The RRDC prefix identifies this as a retained rim die crack, distinguishing it from a full cud where the die fragment separates completely. Indian Head Cents from 1864 occupy a transitional position: the Mint experimented with the new bronze alloy (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc) that would replace the thicker, copper-nickel planchets used since the denomination's 1859 introduction. Philadelphia struck 39,233,714 bronze Indian Head Cents in 1864, exclusive of the copper-nickel issues that preceded them within the same calendar year. Cud and die break varieties on Indian Head Cents carry inherent scarcity because nineteenth-century die manufacturing processes, while generating proportionally more die failures per die than modern methods, operated at far lower total volumes. The "No L" designation indicates this coin was struck from an obverse die created before Longacre's initial was added beneath the headband ribbon — a design modification that occurred mid-year and created two distinct obverse subtypes for 1864 bronze cents that collectors carefully differentiate.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Charlie Doss
• Cross reference: none. 02/01/2014.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References