CU-1C-1952-06R Cud

Description

Sixth reverse cud documented for the 1952 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Wheat Cent, CU-1C-1952-06R records a rim die break on a post-war issue struck during the Korean War era. Philadelphia produced approximately 186 million cents in 1952 — a moderate run that nonetheless required substantial die usage and inevitably produced some instances of rim failure. Cuds are among the most visually dramatic die errors because the raised featureless mass at the coin's edge is often visible to the unaided eye, unlike many subtle doubled die or repunched mintmark varieties that demand magnification. The fracture mechanism involves progressive fatigue at the die rim, the thinnest structural section of the die, where repeated impacts from striking planchets concentrate stress until a crack propagates through the full thickness and a fragment separates. Cross-referenced as CU-1C-1952-06R by Cuds on Coins, this variety belongs to the Lincoln Wheat Cents 1909-1958 series. The early 1950s were the twilight years of the Wheat Cent design, which would be replaced by Frank Gasparro's Lincoln Memorial reverse in 1959, and cud varieties from these final years offer collectors a chance to document die failures on one of the most beloved and long-running coin designs in American history. Attribution requires matching the position and shape of the raised rim mass against the catalog illustration for this specific variety.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Chuck Newman
• CU-1C-1952-06R
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References