CU-1C-1979D-01 Cud

Description

Opening the 1979 Denver Mint cud census, CU-1C-1979D-01 was cataloged by Cuds on Coins and documents the first confirmed terminal rim break on 1979-D Lincoln Memorial cents. Denver's 1979 cent production was substantial, with billions of pieces struck to meet national demand, and the heavy die consumption inherent to such volumes inevitably generated multiple rim failures across the die population. The formation mechanism for this cud follows the universal pattern: cyclic fatigue in the die steel, concentrated at the geometric stress riser where the die face meets the collar groove, nucleates cracks that propagate with each successive strike until a rim segment detaches entirely. The resulting void in the die surface fills with planchet metal under striking pressure, producing the characteristic raised, featureless mass at the break location. Denver's 1979 cents bear the facility's hand-punched D mintmark — a feature that itself reflects the artisanal element of die preparation during this era, as each working die received its mintmark through a separate manual operation before entering production service. CU-1C-1979D-01 is distinguished from subsequent entries in the 1979-D cud census by the specific angular position and extent of its rim separation. The coins were struck from the standard 95% copper alloy. Attribution by Cuds on Coins.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Brian Rogel
• CU-1C-1979D-01
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References