CU-1c-1942-01 Cud

Description

Cataloged as CU-1c-1942-01, this rim cud appears on the last year of standard bronze Lincoln Wheat Cents before the wartime composition changes that would define 1943 through 1945. The 1942 Philadelphia cent was struck in the traditional 95% copper, 5% tin-and-zinc alloy that had served the denomination since its 1909 inception. Beginning in 1943, copper was diverted to the war effort and cents were struck on zinc-coated steel planchets — a radical departure that lasted one year before shell-case brass replaced it for 1944-1945. Against this backdrop of impending metallurgical upheaval, CU-1c-1942-01 documents a straightforward mechanical failure: a working die developed a fracture extending to the rim, the enclosed fragment broke free, and subsequent strikes produced coins with a raised, featureless area where the missing die section could no longer impart design. As the first cataloged cud for the 1942 Philadelphia cent, this variety holds the "01" position in the CudsOnCoins sequential numbering system, indicating it was the earliest reported rim break for the date.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Don Moody on ebay
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References