SKH-1c-1941-01 Spike Head

Description

Proof coinage rarely produces die clash varieties, yet SKH-1c-1941-01 documents precisely that — a spiked head on the 1941 Proof Lincoln Wheat Cent, cataloged by Cuds on Coins on February 19, 2018 — a production context where such anomalies carry heightened significance due to the quality-controlled environment in which proof coins are manufactured. Proof cents are struck using specially polished dies on polished planchets under controlled conditions designed to produce coins of superior finish and detail, making die clash events on proof dies particularly noteworthy because they indicate a feed failure occurred even in this more carefully monitored production environment. The spike formed through the standard mechanism: the obverse and reverse dies struck each other without a planchet, and wheat ears reverse detail transferred into the obverse die, creating a raised spike on Lincoln's portrait visible on subsequent proof strikes. The mirror-like proof surface would have made any such spike conspicuously visible against the pristine fields. The Cohen Index does not list this variety, placing primary documentation within the Cuds on Coins catalog. Philadelphia was the sole proof-producing facility in 1941, and proof set production that year served a collector market that was growing but still modest by later standards. Proof Lincoln Wheat Cents from the early 1940s are collected both as individual coins and as components of complete proof sets, and the presence of a spiked head variety adds a die variety dimension to the proof collecting pursuit. SKH-1c-1941-01 stands as the only documented proof spiked head for 1941, bridging two collecting specialties — proof coin enthusiasts and die variety researchers — in a single catalog entry.

Attribution History

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

External References