RCD-1c-1942S-02R Retained Cud

Description

Full wartime production defined the San Francisco Mint's 1942 operations, and RCD-1c-1942S-02R preserves the second retained cud cataloged for the 1942-S Lincoln Wheat Cent, one of the last cents struck in standard bronze before the switch to steel. The year 1942 marked America's first full calendar year at war, and the Mint was already planning the composition change that would replace bronze with zinc-coated steel in 1943 to conserve copper for military applications. This makes the 1942-S a terminal issue in the bronze Lincoln cent sequence, the last year S-mint cents were struck in 95% copper and 5% tin-and-zinc before the wartime interruption. Bronze would not return until 1944, and even then from recycled brass shell casings rather than fresh copper. A retained cud on this date preserves a die failure from the final months of traditional cent production, a fatigue crack that reached the rim and left the captive fragment to stamp its raised outline onto every subsequent planchet. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins, this variety carries the dual significance of a documented die failure on a coin struck at the threshold of wartime material substitution.

Attribution History

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

External References