1794 Liberty Cap Cent - Head of 1794 - Liberty Cap Large Cent (Head of 1794) Obverse Spiked Head

Description

A spiked head is visible on the obverse of this 1794 Liberty Cap large cent of the Head of 1794 variety. Spiked heads occur when a small die crack develops on the obverse die near Liberty's head, creating a raised spike or thorn-like projection on the struck coin. In this case two die cracks run, one through the "4" in the date and one closer to the right edge of Liberty's bust. The crack through the "4" splits at the edge of the bust with one die crack running along the bottom of liberty back through the hair and the other die crack merging with the one coming from the edge of the bust that runs in a straight line through Liberty and into her hair. The 1794 Liberty Cap cent was produced in relatively large numbers (918,521 struck), but examples with distinctive die errors remain collectible.