1867 Shield Nickel - No Rays - RCD-5c-1867-04 Retained Cud

Description

RCD-5c-1867-04, a retained cud on the 1867 Shield Nickel, was struck at Philadelphia on the No Rays sub-type and documented by Cuds on Coins. The removal of the reverse rays early in 1867 produced a cleaner die design reducing some of the extreme wear experienced with the original configuration, though the copper-nickel composition of 75% copper and 25% nickel continued imposing significant stress on working dies. A retained cud captures a die at the terminal stage — cracked to the rim with a fragment that has broken wholly free yet stays lodged, producing a raised, design-bearing mass on each subsequent strike. For Shield Nickel specialists, retained cuds from the pivotal 1867 transition year offer tangible evidence of the manufacturing challenges accompanying both the new alloy and the mid-production design revision.

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