A set of Lincoln cent cuds.

[Gabe]

Hi guys.... while searching some 1962-d rolls I found that 4 of the rolls in the lot came from the same dies, meaning that there were no more than 10 dies pair of dies that made up the rolls. In the rolls I found countless numbers of cuds (about 25) of one type of cud and about 10 cuds belonging to another pair of dies. I have decided to build a set that shows how the cuds progressed during the die's life. If has been very easy for me to determine which coins showing cuds were minted first (since then cud is not that evident)
Now the question... I have had a lot of trouble figuring out which coins were minted first by just looking at the cud itself. Are there any other markers in the coins ( I have used the location of the mm and a die crack in the first collumn) minted from the same pair of dies that should let me know which of the coins were minted first?

[Bob P]

Hi Gabe,
Normally, in order to determine die progression, the first thing you look for is die state. Once you find the earliest die state, you look for other markers (such as die scratches, gouges, cracks, weak portions etc.) on that coin in which you can match others up to. You do need to be careful here as die scratches that were prevelent on one coin, may be wearing out on another. You would continue looking at the rest of the coins and place them in the order of earliest to latest die states. As far as the cuds go, die progression could start out as a simple light die crack which gets progressively stronger and heavier. I would look for signs of metal flow into the crack as well. When the die finally breaks and leaves the cud, I would then look for signs that the die continues to break and then bits and pieces around the main break cointinue to chip off. This makes the cud larger. I would think by this time that the broken die would have been discovered and removed from service, but...there are some rather unique cuds out there that prove that this is not always the case.
After re-reading your post, I am not sure if you wanted the above info, or if you wanted to know which pair of dies from the two cuds you discovered was striking coins first. In that case, I would venture to say that those dies were in use at the same time sionce they were discovered in the same group of rolls. I hope this helps a little bit!

Bob P

[coop]

Cuds, another area to Photo for Errors Section. Don't have any though.

[coppercoins]

One small detail I think could possibly be a factor here...a CUD is specifically a missing piece out of the edge of the die that leaves the planchet untouched in usually a circular pattern along the edge of the design. CUDs always--ALWAYS involve the edge of the design and the rim of the coin. CUDs are rather uncommon compared to small die chips and die breaks, which are VERY common, especially in common stress areas such as LIBERTY and the edges of the memorial on the reverse.

Just straightening out terminology in hope that it is being used properly, but in caution that it may not. If you are classifying minor die chips and breaks, be forewarned that they are probably worth VERY little if any premium, so basically practice is all you're getting out of it. If you are truly dealing with CUDs here, you've got some money on your hands. They generally sell for $10 or more on that era's cents, making 25 of them one hell of a pull.