CU-1C-1973D-02R Cud

Description

Cataloged as CU-1C-1973D-02R by the Cuds on Coins attribution team, this variety represents the second documented cud for the 1973 Denver Mint Lincoln Memorial cent and the first to appear on the reverse die. The "R" suffix explicitly identifies this as a reverse cud — the die break occurred on the die responsible for impressing the Lincoln Memorial design on the coin's back. Reverse cuds on Lincoln Memorial cents can obliterate portions of the Memorial building, the inscriptions "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," "E PLURIBUS UNUM," or "ONE CENT," depending on the clock-position of the break. The specific location and extent of the missing rim segment on CU-1C-1973D-02R distinguishes it from subsequent reverse cud entries documented for this date. Die rim failures on the reverse are mechanistically identical to those on the obverse — fatigue-driven crack propagation at the die's periphery eventually separates a chip of die steel — but they are cataloged separately because obverse and reverse dies are independent components of the die pair. A single die pair could theoretically develop cuds on both sides simultaneously, though each would receive its own catalog entry. The Denver Mint's intensive 1973 production schedule meant that dies accumulating rim damage were sometimes kept in service longer than ideal, allowing cud-producing breaks to develop on coins that entered circulation in large quantities, making specimens available to collectors today in both circulated and occasionally uncirculated grades.

Attribution History

• Discovered by David Miller
• CU-1C-1973D-02R
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References