CU-1C-1964D-01 Cud

Description

Cataloged as CU-1C-1964D-01 in the Cuds on Coins reference, this variety documents a cud die break on the 1964-D Lincoln Memorial Cent. A cud is a major die break that occurs at the rim of a coin when a piece of the die physically breaks away, leaving a void in the die face that fills with metal during the striking process. The result is a raised, unstruck blob of metal extending from the rim into the design area, replacing whatever design elements occupied that portion of the die before it fractured. Cuds represent one of the more dramatic forms of die failure, as they involve actual structural loss of die material rather than the surface-level cracks and chips that characterize less severe die deterioration. The formation of a cud typically begins with a die crack that propagates from the rim inward; once the crack fully separates a section of the die edge, that fragment falls away and the remaining cavity produces the characteristic raised blank area on subsequent strikes. Production personnel were expected to remove a die from service once a cud developed, but the speed of production sometimes allowed multiple coins to be struck before the damage was detected. With 3,799,071,500 cents struck at the Denver Mint in 1964, the sheer volume of production consumed an enormous number of dies, and statistical probability ensured that some percentage would develop cud-producing fractures before being retired. Struck on a 95% copper and 5% tin-zinc planchet at 3.11 grams and 19mm diameter.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Marvin L
• CU-1C-1964D-01
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References