2000 (P) Lincoln Memorial Cent - CU-1C-2000-01 Cud

Description

Cross-referenced as JCc-2000_006&7 in the James Currier cent tracking system and carrying an October 2013 catalog date, CU-1C-2000-01 records the first documented cud on the 2000 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Memorial Cent. The dual reference number (006&7) in the JCc system suggests this cud may span or relate to two previously noted die crack positions that ultimately progressed into a full rim break — a common evolutionary pathway where hairline die cracks at the rim gradually widen under repeated striking stress until a segment of die steel fractures completely and separates, creating the raised featureless mass that defines a cud. Frank Gasparro's Lincoln Memorial reverse, featuring the columned memorial building with a tiny seated Lincoln figure visible between the central columns, provides the reverse design context on which this break occurred. The 2000-P Lincoln cent was struck during the final decade of the Memorial reverse design (retired after 2008 in favor of the Bicentennial and Shield reverses), and Philadelphia's substantial millennial-year cent production consumed a large population of working dies. Copper-plated zinc planchets, the standard cent composition since 1982, present different stress characteristics to the die compared to the pre-1982 solid copper and copper-alloy planchets. The "01" suffix confirms this as the first cud cataloged for the 2000 Philadelphia date, establishing the baseline entry for a year that marks both the turn of the millennium and the ongoing era of high-volume cent production where die failures accumulate across enormous mintage figures.

Cross References

• CU-1C-2000-01; number: JCc-2000_006&7. 10/01/2013.

External References