PC-5c-1882-01 Pre-Cud

Description

Bearing the Cuds on Coins designation PC-5c-1882-01 — pre-cud, 5-cent denomination, 1882, specimen number 01 — this Shield Nickel exhibits a die crack in its early stage before full cud formation. Unlike the 1869 PC-5c-1869-06, which documents a pre-cud from the series' early-middle production years, this 1882 specimen originates from the penultimate year of Shield Nickel coinage, as the series concluded in 1883 when the Liberty Head "V" Nickel replaced it. The specimen number 01 indicates this was the first pre-cud documented for the 1882 date in the Cuds on Coins catalog. Pre-cuds preserve the developmental stage of die cracking where the steel has fractured but the fragment has not yet separated, producing a raised hairline on struck coins that traces the crack's path across the design. James B. Longacre's Shield Nickel design was struck in 75% copper and 25% nickel at 5.0 grams at the Philadelphia Mint. The 1882 date's position near the end of Shield Nickel production means the Mint's tooling and die-making processes had nearly two decades of experience with the design, yet die cracking remained an inherent risk of the coining process regardless of production maturity.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Chuck Newman
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References