1867 Shield Nickel - No Rays - RCD-5c-1867-16 Retained Cud

Description

RCD-5c-1867-16, a retained cud on the 1867 Shield Nickel No Rays, was cataloged by the Cuds on Coins attribution service. The designation follows the standard naming convention: RCD for retained cud, 5c for the nickel denomination, 1867 for the date, and 16 as the catalog number. James B. Longacre designed the Shield nickel, which debuted in 1866 with a reverse featuring rays between the stars — rays that were eliminated early in 1867 because they created opposing high-relief elements that made the coins extremely difficult to strike properly. Even without the rays, the 1867 No Rays Shield nickel's design — a prominent Union shield on the obverse and a large numeral 5 encircled by thirteen stars on the reverse — still demanded substantial striking pressure. The 75% copper, 25% nickel alloy was significantly harder than any composition previously used for United States coinage, imposing greater stress on working dies and accelerating the development of rim cracks and cuds. Retained cuds form when a die fragment cracks free at the rim but is held in place, sinking slightly so that planchet metal fills the developing gap and creating a raised area at the coin's edge whose design continues from the adjacent design, raised or offset. Philadelphia struck approximately 28.89 million No Rays Shield nickels in 1867, the first year of the subtype.

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