CU-1C-1946S-02 Cud

Description

Second rim cud documented for the 1946 San Francisco Mint Lincoln Wheat Cent, this variety dates from the final year that recycled brass cartridge cases were used for cent production before the return to standard bronze composition in 1947. The San Francisco Mint struck approximately 198 million cents in 1946, the last year of the wartime shell-casing alloy that had replaced standard bronze in 1944 after the steel cent experiment of 1943. A cud is a catastrophic die rim failure where a fractured section separates completely from the die face, and the resulting void fills with metal during striking to produce a raised, featureless mass at the coin's periphery. Cross-referenced as CU-1C-1946S-02 and cataloged by Cuds on Coins, this variety represents one of the documented rim failures from a transitional period in Lincoln Cent metallurgy. The 1946-S sits at the intersection of wartime and peacetime coinage — it was produced as the nation was demobilizing and returning to civilian production, yet the Mint was still consuming its supply of processed cartridge brass rather than ordering fresh copper alloy. Die rim failures on these transitional-composition cents offer a window into how planchet metallurgy influenced die longevity during a period of rapid change.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Chuck Newman
• CU-1C-1946S-02
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References