RIDB-1c-1958-05 Cud

Description

Struck during the final year of the Lincoln Wheat Cent series, this cud on the 1958 Proof cent belongs to the last proof Wheat Cents ever produced — Philadelphia would never again strike proof coins with the wheat ears reverse after this year, as the Lincoln Memorial design replaced it in 1959. The RIDB catalog prefix reflects an original classification as a retained interior die break that was subsequently reclassified as a cud. Position 05 identifies the clock-face location of the raised, featureless mass on the coin's rim, formed when a section of the die fractured and separated, leaving a cavity that filled with metal during striking. As a terminal-year proof variety, this cud holds particular historical significance: it documents one of the very last die rim failures to occur on a Wheat Cent proof die, closing a chapter that began when Victor David Brenner's iconic wheat ears reverse debuted in 1909. Proof mintages in the late 1950s were modest compared to business strike output, constraining the population of any proof-only die variety. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins, this position-05 cud from 1958 marks the end of an era in American coin design and variety collecting.

Attribution History

• Discovered by JC Stevens
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References