1973 (D) Kennedy Half Dollar - CU-50c-1973D-02 Rim Cud

Description

Cataloged as the second rim cud for the 1973 Denver Mint Kennedy Half Dollar, CU-50c-1973D-02 documents another instance of die rim failure at the Denver facility during the early clad-era half dollar production. The 1973-D Kennedy Half Dollar was struck in the copper-nickel clad composition that had replaced the 40% silver alloy starting in 1971, marking the denomination's third year in its current base-metal format. With two documented cuds for the 1973-D (this entry and CU-50c-1973D-01), multiple working dies experienced rim fracture events during the production year — a pattern not uncommon given the mechanical stresses concentrated at the die's peripheral edge, where the rim-forming collar and the die face meet at a sharp angle that serves as a natural stress concentration point. Cuds on Kennedy Half Dollars are visually striking due to the denomination's large 30.61mm diameter: the raised interruption in the design rim left by the loss of part of the die's rim gutter tracks the rim's course and is typically visible without magnification. The Cuds on Coins attribution service lists no cross-references for this variety. Gilroy Roberts's Kennedy obverse and Frank Gasparro's heraldic eagle reverse were struck on 11.34-gram planchets with outer layers of 75% copper and 25% nickel bonded to a pure copper core. Denver's 1973 half dollar production was oriented primarily toward collector demand, as the denomination had largely disappeared from everyday commerce by the early 1970s. The "-02" suffix distinguishes this specific die's rim fracture from the -01 cud, and collectors interested in Kennedy Half Dollar die breaks can pursue both varieties as a matched pair from the same date-mint production run.

Cross References

• CU-50c-1973D-02; none.

External References