SKH-1c-1909-01 Spiked Head

Description

Bearing the most historically significant date in the Lincoln Cent series, this first documented spiked head for the 1909 Philadelphia Mint Wheat Cent records a die clash on the inaugural year of Victor David Brenner's Lincoln design — the first regular-issue United States coin to portray a real person. Cross-referenced to Cohen Index 09-65, this variety connects the spiked head phenomenon to the broader die variety record for the landmark 1909 date. The 1909 Lincoln Cent debuted on August 2, 1909, the centennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth, and the initial "VDB" reverse (later removed due to public controversy) and the no-VDB variant together comprise one of the most collected date sets in American numismatics. A spiked head on a first-year coin documents that die clash events were occurring from the very beginning of the series, when die production techniques for the new design were being established. The wheat ears reverse created by Brenner — featuring two stalks of durum wheat framing the denominational text — would remain in service for nearly fifty years until replaced by the Memorial reverse in 1959. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins on June 26, 2017, this variety carries the weight of first-year-of-issue significance combined with die variety attribution. The Cohen Index 09-65 reference places it within the comprehensive Lincoln Cent die catalog. As the sole documented spiked head for 1909-P, it stands as the only known die clash variety of this type for the series' inaugural year.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Frank Waddell
• Cross reference number: Cohen Index 09-65. 06/26/2017.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References