1904 Indian Head Cent - RCD-1c-1904-01R Retained Cud

Description

The sole retained cud documented for the 1904 Indian Head Cent, the RCD-1c-1904-01R preserves a die rim fracture from the final years of America's second one-cent design. With only five more years of Indian Head production remaining before the Lincoln Cent's debut in 1909, the 1904 date represents the mature twilight of a design that had served American commerce since 1859. The Philadelphia Mint struck approximately 61.3 million cents in 1904, requiring numerous working dies. A retained cud forms when a die rim fragment cracks free of the die body but is held in place, producing coins bearing raised metal at the affected edge — each retained cud unique in the geometry of its fracture and the way the loose fragment moved under striking. Attributed by Cuds on Coins, this variety's singular status for the date suggests either limited die failures or incomplete documentation of the surviving 1904 cent population. The Indian Head Cent's obverse design — Liberty wearing a feathered headdress within a beaded border — and the wreath reverse created specific stress patterns in the dies, and the retained cud's location on the coin records which portion of the die rim ultimately failed under repeated striking pressure.

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