1952 Lincoln Wheat Cent - RCD-1c-1952-01 Retained Cud

Description

The first retained cud cataloged for the 1952 Lincoln Wheat Cent, RCD-1c-1952-01 documents an initial instance of die rim failure for this late-series date. By 1952 the Lincoln Wheat Cent had been in production for over forty years, and Victor David Brenner's obverse portrait and wheat ears reverse were well into their final decade — the design would be retired after 1958 when the Lincoln Memorial reverse debuted. A retained cud develops when a rim crack deepens enough to free a fragment of die metal entirely, but the fragment stays wedged in position rather than falling away, impressing a raised irregular area on every subsequent coin. The sequence number 01 marks this as the first such discovery for the 1952 date, in contrast to heavily documented years like 1943 with dozens of retained cuds. The 1952 Philadelphia Mint cent was struck in bronze composition (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc) at 3.11 grams — the standard alloy restored after the wartime steel and shell-case compositions of 1943-1946. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins as RCD (retained cud), 1c (cent), 1952 (year), 01 (first documented). Inspect the rim under magnification for the raised, slightly irregular mass characteristic of a die fragment that fractured but did not detach.

External References