CU-50c-1953D-01 Cud

Description

Sole cataloged cud for the 1953 Denver Mint Franklin Half Dollar, CU-50c-1953D-01 records a rim die failure on John R. Sinnock's design honoring Benjamin Franklin — one of the Founding Fathers and the only non-president depicted on a standard circulating U.S. coin denomination larger than the cent. Denver struck approximately 20.9 million half dollars in 1953, a substantial figure that supported the half dollar's role as a workhorse denomination in mid-century American commerce. The Franklin Half Dollar series ran from 1948 through 1963, and die varieties across the series have received increasing collector attention as the numismatic community has expanded its variety research beyond the traditionally popular cent and nickel denominations. Cuds on half dollar dies create larger, more visually dramatic defects than on smaller denominations simply because the greater die surface area means that a rim fracture of the same angular extent encompasses a proportionally larger area. The 1953-D date falls in the middle of the Franklin series, five years into production when die-making processes for this design were well established. Cross-referenced as CU-50c-1953D-01 with no additional attributions, this variety was cataloged by Cuds on Coins, offering Franklin Half Dollar collectors a documented die failure from Denver's mid-series production.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Chuck Newman
• CU-50c-1953D-01; none.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References