RCD-1c-1953S-11R Retained Cud

Description

The highest-numbered retained cud documented by Cuds on Coins for the 1953-S Lincoln Wheat Cent, RCD-1c-1953S-11R marks the upper end of a die break series spanning eleven distinct varieties for this single date and mintmark. Eleven retained cuds from a late-date, lower-mintage San Francisco issue may seem paradoxical, but it likely reflects the reality of a facility nearing the end of its cent production mandate — dies were used extensively, and replacement schedules were relaxed as the program wound down. Each retained cud formed when a die crack extended to the rim and the detaching segment remained wedged in place, generating a raised, irregular protrusion on the struck coin. The planchets were 95% copper and 5% zinc, carried forward from the wartime recycled-brass program. After 1955, no more S-mint Lincoln cents would be produced until the Memorial reverse era, making every 1953-S variety part of a closed chapter in numismatic history. For collectors building sets of late San Francisco Wheat Cent die errors, this eleventh and final documented retained cud represents the capstone of a notably productive die break sequence.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Keith Christenson
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References