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Anyone have any ideas about the Lowell quarter "earing" cud?

wrthtuppencewrthtuppence Posts: 29 ✭
in Q & A Forum

Been seeing these around and I finally got one for myself. It looks for all intents and purposes like any old cud but it's perfectly centered (in a rather odd place for state quarter cuds) in the obverse die and always has a little dimple right in the middle. I'm kind of clueless and I haven't found much on the internet about it thus far, so any and all speculation/expertise is welcome. Could just be coincidental positioning of a normal cud but it is odd regardless.

PS. images aren't the best but I figure better ones can easily be found online anyway.


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  • JBKJBK Posts: 15,474 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Not a cud. Cuds are a die break at the edge/rim.

    This is presumably a die chip.

  • ifthevamzarockinifthevamzarockin Posts: 8,842 ✭✭✭✭✭

    A cud would involve the rim, that is a die chip or die damage.
    PCGS lists it as a die chip.

    Looks like it could have been done by a mint worker with a punch. ;)

  • Namvet69Namvet69 Posts: 8,947 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Could it be a gas bubble? Or is George going tribal and stretching his lobes? Peace Roy

    BST: endeavor1967, synchr, kliao, Outhaul, Donttellthewife, U1Chicago, ajaan, mCarney1173, SurfinHi, MWallace, Sandman70gt, mustanggt, Pittstate03, Lazybones, Walkerguy21D, coinandcurrency242 , thebigeng, Collectorcoins, JimTyler, USMarine6, Elkevvo, Coll3ctor, Yorkshireman, CUKevin, ranshdow, CoinHunter4, bennybravo, Centsearcher, braddick, Windycity, ZoidMeister, mirabela, JJM, RichURich, Bullsitter, jmski52, LukeMarshall, coinsarefun, MichaelDixon, NickPatton, ProfLiz, Twobitcollector,Jesbroken oih82w8

  • JimmytheartistJimmytheartist Posts: 74 ✭✭

    It is actually from not lathing the Master die used to make the working die all the way usually they file it down and smooth it out before making the die. Saw a you tube video talking about it with a kennedy half. They called it an "ear ring"

  • OldhoopsterOldhoopster Posts: 2,930 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited February 20, 2021 4:40AM

    @Jimmytheartist said:
    It is actually from not lathing the Master die used to make the working die all the way usually they file it down and smooth it out before making the die. Saw a you tube video talking about it with a kennedy half. They called it an "ear ring"

    That doesn't sound right. A master hub makes master dies, which are used to make working hubs, which then makes working dies. If it was on a master die, the exact feature would be on a significant number of other coins.

    Look at the video of the die making process embedded in this link from the mint.

    https://www.usmint.gov/news/inside-the-mint/how-coins-are-made-coin-production-terminology

    Wexler has some pics of the steel blanks used for master dies. Notice they are all conical.

    https://www.doubleddie.com/58201.html

    Sometimes you tube video makers are more concerned with getting clicks than they are with providing accurate info.

    Member of the ANA since 1982
  • wrthtuppencewrthtuppence Posts: 29 ✭

    Yeah, I've never been able to come up with a satisfying explanation based on the lathing process. I do wonder if it's possible for there to have been some metallurgical defect in the center of the die following lathing that then resulted in this odd chip? Or that the die was paired at some point with one of the conical die blanks, and subsequently damaged by the point of the lathed cone? All a bit of a stretch to me but for such a prominent and oddly placed die chip, none of the usual die wear/damage explanations satisfy.

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