CU-2c-1864-16 Cud

Description

Following immediately after CU-15 in the die break census, CU-2c-1864-16 marks the sixteenth documented cud for the 1864 Large Motto Two Cent Piece — a concentration of rim failures reflecting both the high inaugural-year mintage and sustained research attention this denomination has received. Sixteen cuds for a single date represents one of the denser cud populations among nineteenth-century minor coinage, testimony to how many working dies were consumed striking the approximately 19.8 million Large Motto pieces produced at Philadelphia. Each cud documents a unique die that fractured at the rim, creating the characteristic flat shelf of unstruck metal on coins produced after the break. The 1864 Two Cent Piece inaugurated both the denomination and the IN GOD WE TRUST motto that Congress authorized during the Civil War — a period when public petitions called for divine acknowledgment on the nation's coinage. James Barton Longacre's shield design conveyed patriotic strength during wartime, and the denomination circulated well before declining demand led to discontinuation after 1873. Cuds on Coins cataloged CU-16 as part of their comprehensive two-cent piece die break survey.

External References