CU-1C-1986-09 Cud

Description

A cud's position on the coin tells a story about stress distribution within the die, and CU-1C-1986-09 on the 1986 Philadelphia Lincoln Memorial cent adds to the positional data set for this date. Die fractures do not occur randomly around the coin's circumference — they cluster at locations where the die's geometry concentrates stress. On Lincoln cent obverse dies, common fracture zones include the area near the date (where deep numeral engraving creates stress risers), the region behind Lincoln's head (where the portrait meets the field at an abrupt transition), and the LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST lettering zones (where repeated letter punches create closely spaced stress concentration points). Mapping the clock positions of all twenty documented 1986-P cuds would reveal whether the failures for this date follow the typical distribution or show an unusual clustering that might indicate a batch of dies with a shared metallurgical weakness. Each die was individually manufactured, but dies produced from the same master hub or during the same hardening batch could share subtle material characteristics that predisposed them to fail at similar locations. CU-1C-1986-09 is the ninth variety cataloged for this date. Struck at Philadelphia on copper-plated zinc planchets at 2.5 grams and 19mm.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Delmarvagold_silver on ebay & JC Stevens
• CU-1C-1986-09
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References