1996 (P) Jefferson Nickel - CU-5c-1996P-01 Cud

Description

First documented cud for the 1996 Philadelphia Mint Jefferson Nickel, CU-5c-1996P-01 records a major die break at the rim where a piece of the die fractured and separated completely, producing a raised featureless mass at the coin's edge where normal design detail would otherwise appear. Cuds form when the accumulated stress of repeated high-speed striking causes a section of the die rim to crack and eventually break away, leaving a void in the die that fills with planchet metal during each subsequent strike. The result is one of the most visually dramatic forms of die error — a smooth, raised blob that interrupts the coin's rim and adjacent design elements. The 1996 Philadelphia Jefferson Nickel was produced during a period when Philadelphia's output remained substantial to meet circulating coinage demands, and the nickel alloy composition (75% copper, 25% nickel) is considerably harder than the bronze or copper-plated zinc used for cents, generating greater mechanical stress on the dies during striking. This hardness concentrates forces at the die rim where the design boundary interfaces with the retaining collar, making rim fractures the most common form of major die failure on nickels. As the first and primary documented cud for the 1996-P date, CU-5c-1996P-01 establishes the baseline entry in the cud catalog for this issue. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins, this variety is part of the comprehensive documentation of die rim failures across the complete Jefferson Nickel series, which by 1996 was in its fifty-eighth year of continuous production with Felix Schlag's design virtually unchanged from the 1938 original.

External References