CU-1c-1864-11R (CN) Cud

Description

Eleventh documented reverse cud on the 1864 Indian Head Cent in the Copper Nickel sub-type, this variety records a rim die break on one of the final copper-nickel Indian Heads produced before the Mint transitioned to bronze composition during 1864. The CN (Copper Nickel) designation distinguishes this from the bronze "no L" and "with L" sub-types also struck in 1864, making it the most compositionally complex date in the Indian Head series with three distinct alloy variants. The copper-nickel composition (88% copper, 12% nickel) had been used since the Indian Head design's introduction in 1859, but wartime metal shortages drove the change to the lighter bronze alloy mid-year. Eleven cuds from a single sub-type of one date is an remarkably high count for a pre-Civil War era coin, likely reflecting both the number of dies used and the die stress characteristics of the hard copper-nickel alloy, which was more demanding on dies than the softer bronze that replaced it. The cud formed when a section of the reverse die rim fractured and separated completely, leaving a cavity that filled with metal to produce a raised featureless mass. This variety documents die failure during a transitional moment in American coinage technology.

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