SKH-1c-1952-09 Spiked Head

Description

Spiked head varieties occur when a die crack develops in a specific location on the obverse die — typically near the top of Lincoln's head — producing a raised spike or horn-like projection on struck coins that extends from the head into the surrounding field. SKH-1c-1952-09 documents the ninth cataloged spiked head variety for the 1952 Lincoln wheat cent, identified by the Cuds on Coins attribution service using their standard naming convention: SKH for spiked head, 1c for the one-cent denomination, 1952 for the date, and 09 indicating the ninth example documented for this issue. Victor David Brenner's Lincoln cent obverse, in continuous production since 1909, features a high-relief portrait where the crown of Lincoln's head approaches the rim — a geometry that concentrates striking stress in the area between the head and rim, making this zone particularly susceptible to die cracking. Philadelphia struck approximately 186.9 million Lincoln cents in 1952, a substantial mintage that consumed numerous working dies and provided ample opportunity for die stress fractures. Nine documented spiked head varieties for a single date indicates that this die failure mode was relatively common across the 1952 die population. The "spike" manifests as a thin raised line or projection extending upward from the top of Lincoln's head, created when a die crack in this area fills with metal during striking — the crack acts as a channel that captures planchet metal, producing the characteristic spike. The visual effect ranges from a barely perceptible thin line to a prominent horn-like projection, depending on the severity and width of the underlying die crack. Collectors should examine the area above Lincoln's head at 5-10x magnification, looking for a raised linear feature extending from the hair detail into the field above.

External References