CU-1C-1935-03 Cud

Description

Third cataloged cud for the 1935 Lincoln Wheat Cent, this rim break documents another die failure during the mid-Depression recovery period. By 1935, economic indicators had improved substantially from the nadir of 1932-1933, and the Philadelphia Mint's cent production of approximately 245 million reflected renewed commercial demand for small change. CU-1C-1935-03 records the third distinct die to experience a complete rim separation for this date, cataloged by Cuds on Coins. The physics of die rim fracture are well understood: the rim area of a coining die experiences the highest concentration of compressive and shearing forces during each strike, because the die collar constrains the expanding planchet and focuses stress at the peripheral edge of the die face. Over thousands or hundreds of thousands of impressions, microscopic fatigue cracks initiate and propagate through the hardened tool steel until a section separates. Three cuds for the 1935 date constitute a moderate count, placing it between the sparsely documented low-mintage dates of the early 1930s and the heavily cataloged high-production dates of the wartime 1940s. The 1935 cent carries Victor David Brenner's Lincoln obverse and the wheat ears reverse in their twenty-seventh year of production.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Geoffrey Noe
• CU-1C-1935-03
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References