1863 Indian Head Cent - CU-1c-1863-12 Rim Cud

Description

Cataloged as CU-1c-1863-12, this rim cud on an 1863 Indian Head Cent preserves evidence of a die rim fracture during one of the most turbulent years in American history. The rim cud represents the loss of part of the die's rim gutter, which appears on the coin as a raised interruption in the design rim that tracks the rim's course. Rim cuds are classified by their clock-position on the coin, and this specimen's catalog number places it among at least a dozen documented cud varieties for the 1863 date. The copper-nickel composition of 1863 Indian Head Cents (88% copper, 12% nickel) produced a harder planchet than the bronze alloy that would replace it the following year, and the interaction between these harder planchets and the working dies may have contributed to the rim fractures that generated cud varieties. Philadelphia was the sole mint producing Indian Head Cents in 1863, and the Civil War-era demand for circulating coinage meant dies were used extensively before retirement. Longacre's design featured the Indian Head motif on the obverse with an oak wreath and shield on the reverse, continuing through the series' end in 1909.

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