CU-5c-1974D-02 Cud

Description

Following on the heels of CU-5c-1974D-01, this second 1974-D Jefferson nickel cud carries the JNC cross-reference 74D-2, indicating it was the second variety documented for this date in the Jefferson Nickel Cuds registry -- a rare instance where both cataloging systems agree on the sequential position. Denver produced 277.4 million nickels in 1974, and the existence of multiple cuds (at least five, based on documented varieties through CU-5c-1974D-05) for this date confirms that the production run generated several discrete die rim failures. Each of these failures occurred independently: different dies, different presses, different moments in the production calendar, yet all sharing the same fundamental mechanism of rim fracture under accumulated striking stress. The 1974-D nickel's copper-nickel composition transmits significant impact force to the die with each strike, and the approximately 22-ton striking force used for nickels concentrates stress at the die rim where the cylindrical face meets the flat striking surface. Over time, microscopic fatigue cracks nucleate at stress concentration points, propagate through the die steel's grain structure, and eventually coalesce into a macroscopic fracture that releases a die fragment. The resulting cud on the struck coin -- a raised, featureless mass bridging from the rim inward -- is the numismatic record of that metallurgical event. For collectors tracking the 1974-D cud sequence from -01 through -05, CU-5c-1974D-02 provides the second data point in what amounts to a mini-study of die failure frequency during a single year's production at a single mint facility, offering tangible evidence of the industrial realities behind America's circulating coinage.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Fred Weinberg
• Cross reference number: JNC-74D-2.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References