1866 Shield Nickel - Rays - PC-5c-1866-02 Pre-Cud

Description

Cataloged for the 1866 Shield Nickel with Rays by the Cuds on Coins attribution service, PC-5c-1866-02 documents an independent instance of die rim fracturing on this inaugural-year nickel coinage. The designation follows the standard format: PC for pre-cud, 5c for the five-cent denomination, 1866 for the date, and 02 as the catalog number. James B. Longacre's Shield nickel debuted in 1866 with the "With Rays" reverse design — a large numeral 5 encircled by thirteen stars with prominent rays radiating between them, a configuration that created opposing high-relief elements on both sides of the coin and generated severe striking difficulties. Philadelphia's 1866 production of approximately 14.74 million pieces represented the nation's first experience with mass-production nickel coinage, and the 75% copper, 25% nickel alloy demanded significantly higher striking pressures than the copper, silver, or gold compositions used for all prior United States denominations. Pre-cuds capture the moment of incipient die failure — the steel has cracked but not yet separated, producing a raised but structurally connected area on the struck coin that would eventually develop into a full retained die break (cud) if the die continued in service. The pairing of PC-5c-1866-01 and PC-5c-1866-02 establishes that multiple dies experienced this early-stage fracturing during the denomination's inaugural production run, contributing to the historical record of the Mint's mechanical adaptation to the challenging new alloy.

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