RCD-1c-1953S-05R Retained Cud

Description

The fifth retained cud variety attributed to the 1953-S Lincoln Wheat Cent by Cuds on Coins, RCD-1c-1953S-05R joins a cluster of die break varieties that speak to heavy die utilization at San Francisco during one of its final years of cent production. The mint would produce its last Lincoln cents in 1955, giving the 1953-S date a penultimate significance that resonates with Wheat Cent collectors. The composition remained the wartime-era standard of 95% copper and 5% zinc, a formula born from the recycled shell casing program of 1944. Retained cuds like this one form through a well-understood process of die fatigue: repeated high-pressure strikes cause microscopic cracks to nucleate within the die steel, eventually linking into a fracture that reaches the die rim. If the fractured piece holds position rather than separating, every subsequent strike produces a coin bearing a raised, irregular blob where the retained fragment presses into the planchet. The presence of at least eleven documented retained cuds for the 1953-S date suggests aggressive die utilization during a period when San Francisco was extracting maximum output from its equipment before cent production ceased.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Chuck Newman
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References