1945 Lincoln Wheat Cent - SKH-1c-1945-02 Spiked Head

Description

Cross-referenced to Cohen Index 45-67, this second documented spiked head for the 1945 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Wheat Cent records a die crack from the final year of World War II. The 1945 cent was struck on shell-case brass planchets — the wartime composition of 95% copper and 5% zinc that replaced the standard bronze alloy to conserve tin for military purposes. This composition had been adopted for 1944 and continued through 1946, and the Mint returned to the pre-war bronze formulation in 1947. Production volumes in 1945 remained elevated to meet wartime demand, consuming large numbers of die pairs. A spiked head forms when a crack in the obverse die runs from the rim into the bust; metal filling the crack during striking produces a raised spike on Lincoln's portrait. Two spiked heads documented for 1945-P represents a modest count that may grow as more wartime Wheat Cents are examined. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins on March 23, 2017, with the Cohen Index providing independent cross-attribution, SKH-1c-1945-02 joins a single earlier entry in documenting spiked head die cracks on this date. The wartime cent production era — spanning 1943 steel cents through the 1944-1946 brass issues — provides collectors with a distinct compositional context for die variety research.

Cross References

• Cross reference number: Cohen Index 45-67. 03/23/2017.

External References