RCD-10c-1891O-01R Retained Cud

Description

Sole reverse retained cud cataloged for the 1891-O Seated Liberty dime, RCD-10c-1891O-01R records a die rim fracture on the final year of Christian Gobrecht's Seated Liberty dime design at the New Orleans Mint. The 1891-O represents a historically significant issue: it was produced during the last year of Seated Liberty dime production (the series ran from 1837 through 1891) and at a mint that would cease dime production after this date, making it the terminal date-mint combination for the entire design type. New Orleans struck approximately 4.54 million Seated Liberty dimes in 1891, a modest mintage that places this issue among the more accessible New Orleans dime dates while still commanding collector premiums in better grades. Gobrecht's design features seated Liberty holding a shield and pole with liberty cap on the obverse, with a wreath enclosing the denomination on the reverse — a design paradigm that had served American silver coinage for over fifty years. The retained cud indicates the die rim fractured but the broken section remained in position, creating a raised or shelf-like disturbance on struck coins. The O mintmark, hand-punched into the reverse die beneath the wreath, identifies New Orleans production. A retained cud on an 1891-O Seated Liberty dime combines the appeal of a terminal-date design type with a die failure variety, attracting interest from both series specialists and error collectors. Cataloged by the Cuds on Coins service with no cross-references, this variety stands alone as the only documented reverse retained cud for the date — the singular catalog entry may reflect the limited surviving population of 1891-O dimes available for examination compared to the millions of Lincoln and Jefferson coins that error specialists routinely screen.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Fred Weinberg
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References