CU-1C-1942S-02 Cud

Description

A second rim fracture on the 1942 (S) Lincoln Wheat Cent — cataloged as CU-1C-1942S-02 — establishes that multiple San Francisco dies failed during the final year of standard bronze cent production. The significance of 1942 in Lincoln Cent history cannot be overstated: it was the last year before the unprecedented 1943 zinc-coated steel cents, and the last year before the 1944-1946 shell-case copper alloy, making standard-composition 1942 cents the end of a metallurgical lineage stretching back to 1909. Two cuds from this date indicate that die attrition continued at normal rates even as wartime pressures reshaped other aspects of Mint operations. The second cud originated from a different die than the first, fracturing at its own unique rim position to produce a cud of distinct size and location on the struck coins. For collectors, the pair of 1942-S cuds offers a comparative study in die failure — two dies manufactured to the same specifications, serving the same production run, each succumbing to rim fracture at a different point in their working lives and leaving behind visually distinct evidence on the coins they struck.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Mike Antenucci
• CU-1C-1942S-02
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References