SKH-1c-1952-10 Spike Head

Description

Tenth in the spiked head census for the 1952 Lincoln wheat cent, SKH-1c-1952-10 extends an already deep catalog of die cracking events on this early-1950s Philadelphia issue. Cataloged by the Cuds on Coins attribution service with the standard naming format — SKH for spiked head, 1c for cent, 1952 for date, and 10 for the tenth cataloged variety — this entry reflects the intensive documentation effort that has identified at least ten independent instances of die cracking around Lincoln's portrait on 1952-dated cents. Victor David Brenner's Lincoln portrait, in continuous production since 1909, features a right-facing bust with significant relief in the hair, beard, and coat detail that creates stress concentrations in the surrounding die steel. Philadelphia struck approximately 186.86 million wheat cents in 1952, one of the final years of the wheat reverse design before the 1959 transition to Frank Gasparro's Lincoln Memorial motif. Spiked head varieties develop when the die steel fractures at the boundary between the raised portrait and the recessed field, producing a crack that fills with planchet metal under the substantial pressure of each strike and creates a raised, irregular projection on the finished coin. Ten documented spiked heads for a single date represents a notably comprehensive census, suggesting either that 1952 cent dies were particularly susceptible to this failure mode or that the date has received exceptionally thorough scrutiny from die break specialists. First listed on August 22, 2025, this variety is among the more recently documented additions to the 1952 spiked head family. Collectors should examine the perimeter of Lincoln's portrait under 10x magnification, paying particular attention to the high-stress areas around the forehead, crown, and nape where die cracks most commonly originate.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Brian Biggerstaff
• Cross reference: none. 08/22/2025.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References