1985 P Nickel Cud On Rim

That appears to be the real deal. I expected to see weakness in the strike of E PLUR area (opposite the Cud) but it's not there. I wonder what that implies?

Yes, and the weakness is an expected diagnostic of a genuine Cud error.

Think about the process that produces a Cud and it becomes clear why to expect the opposite side weakness.

Each planchet that is fed into the minting press to produce a coin (in this case a Jefferson nickel) contains a fixed volume of metal, give or take the usual tolerances.

A rim Cud is formed when a portion of the edge of the die fatigues and breaks off. When that occurs, the available metal in that area of the planchet 'fills in' the volume where the die used to be, forming the raised irregular shaped Cud.

But, recall there is only a fixed amount of metal to start with, so the metal that formed the raised Cud had to come from elsewhere - so the area opposite the Cud on the other side of the coin gives that metal volume up resulting in an incomplete (weak) strike 180 degrees opposite the Cud location.

So, in the case of your coin physics and the minting process expect to see the letters in the E PLUR location to be incomplete strikes.

Make sense?

This leads to the possible conclusion that your coin is maybe solder or some other added material.

Here is a photo of a 1980-P reverse rim Cud I once found roll searching. Note how the lower portion of Jefferson bust and coat is 'missing' opposite the Cud location.

@Patchedwoodworks: nice Cud, this one looks very familiar - I think another one that looks just like this one has been posted receintly.

5.0 grams - right on the money! but you might want to consider upgrading your scale to measure out to the hundredths of a gram (0.00g) for more accuracy. Such as the copper Lincoln Cents which weigh 3.11 grams.

I'm thinking that it is a CU-5C-1985P-03 from the COC's page here is a screen shot. I definitely plan to upgrade my scale anyone got an opinion on what good quality meets price tag on that I'm all ears. Thanks again guys I spy our all!

The are what should have been weak was part of the field area, so it would not leave weakness on the reverse. There is a slight affect on the UN on the UNUM area on the rim.