CU-1C-1946S-08R Cud

Description

Eighth reverse cud documented for the 1946 San Francisco Mint Lincoln Wheat Cent, this die break variety represents one of the first post-war cent issues from the West Coast facility. With World War II concluded, the U.S. Mint returned to standard bronze composition for the 1946 cent after the emergency wartime compositions of 1943 (zinc-coated steel) and 1944-1945 (recycled brass shell casings). San Francisco's 1946 cent production marked the resumption of normal operations, and the die pairs used to strike these coins were subject to the same mechanical stresses that made rim fractures a routine occurrence at all three mints. A cud forms when a piece of the die rim breaks away completely, leaving a cavity that fills with metal during striking to create the raised featureless mass visible at the coin's edge. Eight documented reverse cuds for the 1946-S date suggests that die rim failures were frequent enough across the production run to populate a meaningful catalog. Cross-referenced as CU-1C-1946S-08R and cataloged by Cuds on Coins, this variety is collected alongside the massive population of 1946-S repunched mintmark varieties, making the 1946-S date one of the most variety-rich in the entire Wheat Cent series.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Chad Hunter
• CU-1C-1946S-08R
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References