CU-10c-1943D-04 Cud

Description

Struck during the height of World War II when the United States Mint was operating at peak capacity to support wartime commerce, this 1943-D Mercury Dime carries a rim cud on a coin produced at the Denver Mint. A cud forms when a section of the die face fractures away at the rim, and every coin struck afterward bears a raised, featureless plateau where the broken section once carried design detail. The 1943 Mercury Dime was produced in 90% silver, a composition maintained throughout the war for the dime denomination even as the nickel switched to a silver-manganese alloy to conserve strategic metals. Wartime production pressures — longer press runs, accelerated die usage, and the urgency of maintaining coinage output — increased the likelihood of die failures including rim fractures that produced cuds. The Mercury Dime, designed by Adolph Weinman and produced from 1916 through 1945, features a winged Liberty head on the obverse and a fasces with olive branch on the reverse. Denver's D mintmark appears on the reverse near the base of the fasces. CU-10c-1943D-04 is the fourth cataloged cud for the 1943-D Mercury Dime, documented by the Cuds on Coins project.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Maya Jones
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References