RCD-1c-1941S-02R Retained Cud

Description

Produced in the final year of American peacetime before Pearl Harbor, RCD-1c-1941S-02R documents the second retained cud cataloged for the 1941-S Lincoln Wheat Cent. When this coin was struck at San Francisco, the United States had not yet entered World War II, an event that would come on December 7, 1941, after which the nation's industrial capacity, including Mint facilities, would be redirected toward the war effort. The 1941-S cent occupies a transitional moment in coinage history, representing the last full year of normal peacetime production before wartime demands would alter compositions and replace bronze with zinc-coated steel in 1943. A retained cud forms when a fatigue crack propagates to the die rim, fracturing a fragment that remains mechanically captured and continues stamping its raised irregular shape onto subsequent planchets. The second cataloged retained cud for this date suggests modest die failure documentation compared to the extraordinary 1940-S census of 86-plus entries. Struck in 95% copper and 5% tin-and-zinc, this coin is cataloged by Cuds on Coins and connects die failure documentation to one of the most consequential years in American history.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Charity & Chris Welch
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References