I'm a novice but I'm learning. My Mom worked in a bank for 20 years and anytime an interesting coin came through she would take change from her purse and swap the coin out. She left me quite a collection including pre 1964 silver, Kennedy halves, Susan B Anthony's, Eisenhower Dollars, more quarters that I can lift. Dimes, Jefferson halves, Pennies including steels and coppers. I've enjoyed going through them and learning as I go. Here's my question: I'd like to understand the difference between a die break and a cud. Through my research it seems a die break goes rim to rim whereas a cud is more like a bubble inside the rim of the coin. My novice understanding is die breaks are somewhat valuable whereas cuds are fun to find but do not add any value to the coin. I'd much appreciate some education on this subject. All opinions are much appreciated.
Hopefully this will help you. I included a few errors that you didn’t mention but it should help. A cud is a die break that is attached to the rim of the coin. I have several but I don’t have a photo of one. They can be large or small in size. They start small and grow as the die is being used. They appear as a blob of raised, rounded metal. A die crack is where the die has cracked and it too grows with use of the die. A die crack will be raised as metal flows into the die crack and is transferred to the planchet when it’s being struck. A die crack can occur anywhere on the coin and they can be any length. This one goes from Lincoln’s hair to the rim. A die crack can also be rim to rim but not in all cases as my coin shows. This coin is a lamination error. You can see the metal on the coins surface has split open. This is an attached lamination but they can also be detached when a piece of the coins surface is missing. It is not a die crack as it’s not raised. This is an incomplete planchet. Sometimes they are called clips but the correct term is incomplete planchet. They can be any size and occur anywhere on the edge of the coin. A percentage is assign to the missing part. I have included two types for your understanding. This is an off center strike. Totally different from a ridge ring, which is very common and caused by a worn die. Again, an off center strike can be any size and percentages are assigned to them. They can also be double or triple strikes. This is a reverse clipped die. It is bowl shaped and it’s on the reverse side of the coin. They can be on with side. This one is also a graded and slabbed coin. There are many types of mint errors. Some are common, others are readily available and some are rare. These errors can occur on any denomination. For instance, I have a Kennedy Half Dollar with 3 clips. Clips can be round, the most common, followed by a straight clip and the most difficult to find is a ragged clip. All are correctly called incomplete planchet errors. Hope this help you.
It takes a long time to learn about coins. I’ve been collecting for 66 years and I’m still learning. You’re more than welcome.
We love it when Dave opens his storage boxes to show off his spectacular collection…… Think of it like this….. A broken die will leave a raised line on your coin at the break….. Once that broken portion of the die gives way, it leaves a void. And since the metal in a coin planchet wants to find the path of least resistance, it will show as a bubble where that void is……. That was supposed to come out sounding much simpler than that….
@Del King: Here are a couple of books that can help you with your education. The Mint Errors book should not be used for values, and the Mint Errors to Die For is expensive but has beautiful pictures. Try your local library or eBay.
Yes, please remember that any book, even the R.S. Yeoman Red Book, any prices are just a guide. They are not real actual prices. Search for sales of sold items for a better reality of the coins worth. And what a coin sells for in one area is probably not going to be the same in another area.
