CU-1C-1958D-04 Cud

Description

Cataloged as CU-1C-1958D-04, this cud variety adds a fourth documented rim failure to the final year of Lincoln Wheat Cent production at Denver. The 1958-D cent holds a unique position in numismatic history: it is the last Denver-minted coin to carry the Wheat reverse that Victor David Brenner's design team created for the series' 1909 launch. Collectors of "last year" coins often seek out varieties that demonstrate the full range of die behavior during a design's terminal production, and cuds — being among the most visually dramatic die errors — satisfy that interest thoroughly. The raised featureless mass along the rim of a 1958-D Wheat Cent stands in stark contrast to the carefully engraved wheat stalks and legends it partially obscures, a juxtaposition of intentional artistry and unintentional destruction. Four cuds from the final year suggest Denver's die-consumption patterns held steady to the end, with no apparent reduction in rim failures despite whatever process knowledge had accumulated over nearly fifty years of Wheat Cent production. The physics of die fatigue, it turns out, remained stubbornly indifferent to the calendar significance of a design's farewell season.

Attribution History

• Discovered by John Shields
• CU-1C-1958D-04
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References