Any ideas on the value/rarity of these pennies? I am assuming the two on the left are cuds. The one on the far left has a matching flat spot on the reverse. What causes a cud?
It does look like the first two are cuds, and the third could be a lamination error. A little tough to tell in the photo. A cud happens as a die crack seperates. A piece of the die breaks away allowing the metal in the planchet to flow into this area. For the most part, a cud does not add much value to the coin.
That last one had me thrown. First I thought it was bubbling of the plating. But, if there is somnething on the back, then I thibnk it is just plain damage. If it were a broken die, there would be no detail where the bulge is. Since there is detail where the bulge is, that means it was struck properly and the bulge happened later. If the bulge has a acoresponding indent onthe back, then it is a damaged coin, not a mint error.
The third coin is air bubbles beneith the plating,a rather common occurance during the early years of plated Cents. More damage than error. These bubbles occur due to impurities on the planchet which prevent the Copper from properly adhering to the Zinc planchet. The two 'cuds' are very nice but the error market is so active it's hard to say whay they might bring without actually offering them on Ebay. The larger cud would bring much more than the second one,even without a date. ~ Jim
