1864 Indian Head Cent - Bronze No L - PC-1c-1864-03R Pre-Cud

Description

Documented on February 12, 2019, by the Cuds on Coins research team, the PC-1c-1864-03R is a pre-cud variety found on the 1864 Indian Head cent, specifically the Bronze No L variant struck in the first year of the revised bronze composition. A pre-cud represents the earliest visible stage of a die break that may or may not go on to become a full cud — a network of fine die cracks has run from the rim and back to it, but the enclosed section of die metal is still part of the die and has not moved, producing subtle raised crack lines on struck coins without the displaced mass of metal that characterizes a retained or full cud. James B. Longacre's Indian Head cent design, featuring a Liberty figure wearing a Native American headdress, underwent a significant composition change in 1864 from copper-nickel to bronze, and the 1864 Bronze No L variant lacks the small "L" initial that Longacre later added to the Indian's war bonnet ribbon. Philadelphia struck approximately 39.2 million bronze Indian Head cents in 1864, the first year of the new alloy that would continue through the series' end in 1909. No cross-references from other attribution services have been established for this variety. Pre-cuds are particularly valuable to die variety researchers because they document the earliest stage of a die failure sequence that may eventually progress through retained cud and full cud stages, potentially linking different variety catalog entries to a single die's progressive deterioration history. Collectors should examine the rim area under 15-20x magnification, looking for fine interconnected crack lines that leave the rim and return to it around a rim section — distinguishing these from simple die cracks requires tracing the crack pattern to confirm it fully encloses a discrete area of the die rim.

Cross References

• Cross reference: none. 02/12/2019.

External References