CU-1c-1901-01 Cud

Description

With eight years remaining before the Lincoln Cent would end the Indian Head series, the 1901 Indian Head Cent was produced in massive quantity — approximately 79.6 million pieces — at the Philadelphia Mint. This cud die break captures a year of political transition: President McKinley was assassinated in September 1901, bringing Theodore Roosevelt to the presidency. Roosevelt would later commission Augustus Saint-Gaudens to redesign American coinage, setting in motion a transformation that would touch every denomination including the cent. CU-1c-1901-01 is the first documented cud die for this date, cataloged in the Cuds on Coins reference system. The coin was struck in bronze composition (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc). A cud forms when a section of the die rim fractures and separates during production, leaving a void that fills with metal on subsequent strikes, creating a raised featureless mass at the coin's edge. The massive mintage consumed many die pairs, providing ample opportunity for rim fractures. No additional cross-references have been recorded.

External References