CU-1C-1927D-02 Rim Cud

Description

While CU-1C-1927D-01 documents the first reported rim break for the 1927 Denver cent, this companion entry — CU-1C-1927D-02 — records a second, distinct die failure from the same production year. The existence of two cuds from a date with only 27.17 million coins struck raises the question of die usage patterns at the Denver Mint during the late 1920s. Each working die was expected to produce a certain number of impressions before scheduled retirement, but operational realities often extended die life beyond optimal limits. As a die accumulated strikes, fatigue cracks developed along stress concentrators — particularly near fine design details and at the die rim, where the transition from the coin's field to its edge created a geometric stress riser. When those cracks reached the rim and isolated a section of the die face, continued striking produced cuds on every coin until the die was finally pulled. CU-1C-1927D-02 and its predecessor together suggest that at least two working dies exceeded their safe operational window during 1927-D cent production, each generating a unique rim fracture at a different position on the die face.

Attribution History

• CU-1C-1927D-02
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References