CU-1c-1974-03 Cud

Description

The third entry in the 1974 Philadelphia Mint cud census, CU-1c-1974-03 continues the catalog of rim break varieties for this high-mintage date. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins without any additional cross-reference numbers from alternative attribution services, this variety documents a die rim fracture on a Philadelphia cent struck without a mint mark from the approximately 4.23-billion-piece 1974 production run. A cud error arises from a catastrophic failure at the die's periphery: accumulated fatigue causes a crack to propagate through the die steel until a section of the rim separates entirely. Once the fragment detaches, the die continues to strike coins, but each impression now carries a raised, formless mass of extruded metal where the rim design should appear. The size of the affected area depends on how large a fragment separated and at what angle the fracture plane ran through the die, producing cuds that range from small rim blisters to massive blobs that obliterate a significant portion of the design. CU-1c-1974-03 occupies its own unique clock-position on the die rim, distinct from both the first and second entries in the 1974 Philadelphia cud catalog. Three confirmed cuds from the same date-mint combination indicates that multiple Philadelphia dies reached their rim-failure endpoint during the 1974 production year — an expected outcome given the sheer volume of dies required to sustain production at the billions-of-coins scale. Attribution by Cuds on Coins.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Jeremy Nesbitt
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References