CU-5c-1977D-02 Cud

Description

Second in the 1977-D Jefferson nickel cud roster, CU-5c-1977D-02 carries the cross-reference JNC-77D-1 from the Jefferson Nickel Cuds registry. The apparent mismatch -- second in the Cuds on Coins system but first in the JNC numbering -- simply reflects the different chronological order in which the two organizations received and cataloged specimens of this variety. Denver struck 297.3 million nickels in 1977, sustaining the high production volumes that had characterized the facility's five-cent output throughout the decade. The late 1970s saw the Jefferson nickel series in a period of numismatic dormancy from a design perspective, with Felix Schlag's original 1938 portrait and Monticello reverse continuing unchanged, but this lack of design variation did not diminish the production-related phenomena that generate cud varieties. Each die pair in the production line might strike 250,000 to 500,000 coins before scheduled replacement, though unscheduled retirements due to rim fractures, cuds, die cracks, and other failures could reduce a die's service life significantly. The 1977-D nickel's copper-nickel composition (75/25 Cu/Ni) creates a planchet hardness that falls between the softer copper cent planchets and the even harder composition used for dollar coins, placing the nickel denomination in a middle zone for die stress. The cud itself -- a raised, featureless mass at the rim -- provides no design information, but its position on the coin (obverse versus reverse, clock position relative to design elements) contributes to variety classification and affects collector interest. CU-5c-1977D-02 adds to a growing census that demonstrates the regularity of rim failures across mid-to-late 1970s nickel production.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Fred Weinberg
• Cross reference number: JNC-77D-1.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References