CU-1c-1982-35B(SD) Cud

Description

Advancing to the later die state, CU-1c-1982-35B(SD) on the Zinc Small Date at 2.5 grams documents the progressive deterioration of the same fracture cataloged under the "A" designation — the die crack has now propagated deeper into the steel, the detached fragment has shifted further from its original alignment, and the resulting cud on struck coins shows a larger featureless area with a potentially less defined boundary than the tighter A-state impression. This B-state entry provides direct physical evidence of continued die use beyond the point where the fracture characteristics changed enough to create a visually and metrically distinct variety: the Mint did not retire the die when the A-state break was present but continued running it through additional strikes that drove the crack's progression to the B-state geometry. On the zinc planchet with the compact small date numerals, the expanded B-state cud fills a larger void with copper-plated zinc material, and comparing a B-state specimen against its A-state counterpart reveals the fracture's evolution — a record of mechanical deterioration frozen in metal across two distinct snapshots of the same die's declining structural integrity. The B suffix in the census designation serves as an explicit die state marker within the numbering system. Attribution by Cuds on Coins.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Fred Weinberg
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References