SKH-1c-1948D-01 Spiked Head

Description

Representing the first documented spiked head for the 1948-D Lincoln Wheat Cent, this business strike variety dates from the post-war era when the Denver Mint was producing cents at high volume to meet surging civilian demand. After wartime restrictions ended and the economy transitioned to peacetime, coin demand rose sharply, and Denver's large mintage of 1948-D cents consumed numerous die pairs throughout the production year. A spiked head forms when foreign matter becomes lodged in the die cavity near Lincoln's portrait, filling a recess that should be empty and causing a raised spike of metal to appear on the struck coin. The 1948-D was struck in the standard bronze alloy that had returned after the wartime shell case composition ended in 1946. SKH-1c-1948D-01 is cataloged by Cuds on Coins and is not listed in the Cohen Index. As the first — and so far only — documented spiked head for this date, it may represent either a genuinely scarce occurrence or simply the earliest discovery in what could become a longer catalog as more specimens are examined by die variety researchers.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Amy Antone
• Cross reference number: Cohen Index not listed. 08/24/2018.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References