SKH-1c-1952-05 Spiked Head

Description

Fifth in the spiked head census for the 1952 Lincoln wheat cent, SKH-1c-1952-05 adds another documented die cracking event to the growing body of evidence for this prolific production year. The Cuds on Coins attribution service cataloged this variety using their standard naming convention, with the 05 suffix indicating it was the fifth instance identified for the 1952 date. Victor David Brenner's Lincoln portrait, featuring the deeply sculpted right-facing bust that has defined the cent obverse since 1909, creates substantial relief differential at the portrait boundary where the raised design meets the flat field — precisely the zone where mechanical stress concentrates and die fractures most readily develop. Philadelphia struck approximately 186.86 million wheat cents in 1952, subjecting each working die to millions of striking impacts that progressively fatigued the die steel until cracks initiated and propagated outward from high-stress regions. Five documented spiked heads for the same date demonstrates the frequency with which independent dies developed portrait-boundary fractures during a typical production year, providing statistical evidence for die failure rates in post-war cent production. The spike projection that appears on struck coins results from planchet metal flowing into the die crack under the enormous pressures generated during coining — approximately 30-40 tons for a cent die — filling the fracture and creating a raised line or protrusion on the coin's surface that replicates the crack's geometry. First listed on April 2, 2017, this variety was documented concurrently with other 1952 spiked heads during a systematic review of this date. Collectors should examine the portrait perimeter under 10x magnification with angled lighting, looking for raised projections that extend consistently outward from Lincoln's bust into the adjacent field.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Chuck Newman
• Cross reference: none. 04/02/2017.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References