1948 Lincoln Wheat Cent - PC-1c-1948-01R Pre-Cud

Description

Opening the reverse pre-cud census for the 1948 Lincoln wheat cent, PC-1c-1948-01R marks the first cataloged instance of an early-stage die rim fracture on Victor David Brenner's reverse for this early postwar date. Philadelphia struck approximately 317.6 million cents in 1948, a production level that had normalized from the extreme wartime volumes but still required substantial die inventories operating through extended press runs. The 1948 cent returned to the standard 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc bronze composition after the wartime and immediate postwar alloy experiments (steel in 1943, shell case brass in 1944-1946), meaning the planchet hardness and striking characteristics reverted to the properties that Mint die makers had calibrated for since the denomination's inception. The Cuds on Coins attribution service documented this variety following their standard PC-denomination-date-number-side format, with 01R establishing it as the inaugural reverse pre-cud entry for the 1948 date. As a pre-cud, the die crack had run from the rim and back to it, producing a raised crack line on struck coins while the enclosed die steel stayed in place, level and in line with the design around it — short of the retained cud stage, where the piece breaks free, or the full cud stage, where it falls out and leaves a raised featureless mass. The wheat ear reverse design concentrates fine detail near the rim, with grain heads and the upper motto E PLURIBUS UNUM approaching the periphery closely enough that a pre-cud crack in these zones shows as a raised line cutting across design elements that stay level on either side. Collectors should examine the reverse rim under 7-10x magnification, noting that the 01R designation means this is currently the only documented reverse pre-cud for the date, making specimens that confirm or extend this variety particularly valuable to the census.

External References