CU-1c-1936-03 Cud

Description

Third cud documented for the 1936 Philadelphia Lincoln Wheat Cent, this die break variety preserves the evidence of a rim fracture during one of the largest cent production years of the pre-war era. The 1936 Philadelphia Mint struck approximately 309.6 million Wheat Cents — a massive output that represented a dramatic recovery from the Depression-era lows of 1931-1933, when cent production had plummeted to fractions of typical volumes. Three documented cuds for this single date reflect both the high die consumption rate required to produce over 300 million cents and the systematic documentation efforts of variety researchers. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins with no cross-reference number assigned, this variety formed when a section of the die rim fractured and fell away, leaving a cavity that produced a raised featureless mass along the edge of every subsequent strike. Die rim fractures occur at the periphery of the die face where the edge of the design meets the retaining collar — a zone of concentrated mechanical stress during each striking cycle. Victor David Brenner's Lincoln Wheat Cent design had been in production for twenty-seven years by 1936, and the Mint's familiarity with the tooling requirements for this long-running series was well established. Cud errors on pre-war Wheat Cents are actively collected across the full 1909-1958 date range, with some dates yielding substantial populations of documented die break varieties that reflect their high original mintages.

Attribution History

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

External References