1941 Lincoln Wheat Cent - SKH-1c-1941-02 Spiked Head

Description

Second spiked head variety cataloged for the 1941 Lincoln wheat cent by the Cuds on Coins attribution service, SKH-1c-1941-02 records a die chip anomaly from a year that marks the final peacetime production before America's entry into World War II following the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Philadelphia struck approximately 887.0 million cents in 1941, a massive production surge driven by economic expansion as the nation's industrial base mobilized for defense production. That enormous output required a correspondingly large number of working die pairs, and the intensive use of each die created opportunities for the small steel fractures that generate spiked head features on Victor David Brenner's Lincoln portrait. Spiked heads develop when a chip of die steel separates from the die face in the area surrounding the portrait, leaving a void that accepts planchet metal during striking and produces a raised projection — the characteristic spike — extending from Lincoln's head into the adjacent field. The 1941 cent is struck in the standard 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc bronze alloy, which is softer than the zinc-coated steel used in 1943 and thus produces less aggressive die wear, making the existence of multiple spiked head varieties (this being the second) a reflection of the sheer volume of dies consumed rather than unusual planchet hardness. The "02" suffix distinguishes this die from SKH-1c-1941-01, indicating a separate working die experienced its own independent chipping event in a different location on the portrait. Collectors should inspect the area around Lincoln's head under 8-12x magnification, looking for a raised projection that maintains consistent size, shape, and position across multiple specimens — confirmation that the feature originates from the die rather than from post-strike damage.

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