SKH-1c-1941-01 Spiked Head

Description

Sole documented spiked head variety for the 1941 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Wheat Cent, this entry was cross-referenced against the Cohen Index as "Not Listed" with a documentation date of February 19, 2018. The spiked head formed through a die clash event — the obverse and reverse dies struck each other without a planchet between them, and elements of the wheat ears reverse transferred into the obverse die, creating a raised protrusion from Lincoln's portrait visible on subsequent strikes. The 1941-P cent was produced in the final year before the United States' entry into World War II following the December 7 attack on Pearl Harbor, and cent production that year reflected peacetime operations at the Philadelphia Mint with standard copper alloy planchets. Within two years, the same facility would be striking cents on zinc-coated steel planchets as wartime copper conservation measures took effect. A single documented spiked head for 1941-P suggests either limited die clash occurrence for this date or incomplete collector examination — given that the variety was not documented until 2018, additional examples may await discovery in unchecked populations of 1941 cents. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins, SKH-1c-1941-01 represents one of the pre-war Wheat Cent spiked heads that connect the die clash phenomenon across the full span of the series, from early dates through the wartime and postwar periods. Collectors examining 1941-P Wheat Cents for this variety should inspect Lincoln's head under magnification, looking for any raised projection that disrupts the normal smooth contour of the portrait.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Bob Byrd
• Cross reference number: Cohen Index Not Listed. 02/19/2018.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References