1950 Lincoln Wheat Cent - RCD-1c-1950-06R Retained Cud

Description

Attributed by Cuds on Coins as RCD-1c-1950-06R, this retained cud was struck at Philadelphia during the early postwar period when the Lincoln Wheat Cent had returned to its standard tin-bearing bronze composition. The restoration of the pre-war 95% copper, 5% tin-zinc formula followed several years of wartime and transitional compositions — steel in 1943 and recycled shell casing alloy from 1944 through 1946. By 1950, coinage production had settled into routines that would carry the Wheat Cent through its final decade. A retained cud forms at the terminal stage of die service, where a crack reaching the rim frees a fragment entirely while the collar keeps it captured in place. Each subsequent strike produces a coin bearing the raised mass of the retained fragment overlaying the normal design. The sixth retained cud for the 1950 Philadelphia cent indicates moderate die failure activity consistent with substantial production volumes. For collectors, postwar Wheat Cent retained cuds occupy a middle ground between the extraordinary density of 1943 steel issues and the relative scarcity from earlier decades.

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