CU-25c-2005P-03R(WV) Cud

Description

Third reverse cud on the 2005 Philadelphia West Virginia State Quarter, CU-25c-2005P-03R(WV) continues the documented pattern of reverse die rim fractures on this particular State Quarter design. Cuds on Coins assigned no additional cross-reference numbers, cataloging this as an independent die failure event separate from the first and second reverse cuds recorded for this date-mint-state combination. The West Virginia reverse, featuring the New River Gorge Bridge — completed in 1977 as the world's longest single-span steel arch bridge at 1,700 feet — required deep die engraving to render the bridge's structural detail, the surrounding gorge topography, and the commemorative inscriptions. Deep engraving concentrates stress at design boundaries, and the bridge's span crossing the full width of the reverse field created structural stress lines in the die that may have increased fracture susceptibility at the rim. Philadelphia's State Quarter production in 2005 operated at high volume across multiple presses, and the West Virginia design entered production as the forty-fifth state quarter in the program's sequence. Three reverse cuds documented from this design's production run, with additional cuds also cataloged, collectively suggest that the New River Gorge Bridge reverse may have experienced above-average die mortality rates — data that contributes to the broader statistical understanding of how reverse design complexity correlates with die fracture frequency across the State Quarters program.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Heritage Auction
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References