1868 Two Cent Piece - RCD-2c-1868-03R Retained Cud

Description

Cataloged by Cuds on Coins as RCD-2c-1868-03R, this retained cud variety appears on an 1868 Two Cent Piece from the series produced from 1864 through 1873. The Two Cent Piece was struck in bronze consisting of 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc, weighing 6.22 grams with a 23 mm diameter and a plain edge. Philadelphia struck 2,803,750 Two Cent Pieces in 1868, a declining mintage figure that reflected the denomination's waning popularity as the three-cent nickel and the five-cent nickel increasingly fulfilled small-denomination transaction needs. Designed by James Barton Longacre, the Two Cent Piece is historically significant as the first U.S. coin to bear the motto IN GOD WE TRUST, which appeared on its obverse shield design. A retained cud is a die break variety where a piece of the die rim has cracked and broken free of the die face but is held in place, creating a raised area on struck coins in the affected zone that still carries its design, raised as a plateau or set out of line. The "R" in the catalog designation RCD-2c-1868-03R indicates this is specifically a reverse retained cud, locating the break on the wreath side of the coin. Cuds on Coins gives cross-references to the Thurman and Margolis Cud Book as TCC file numbers where they exist; this entry has none.

External References