SKH-1c-1953S-04A Spiked Head

Description

Spiked head varieties rank among the most visually striking die chip errors on Lincoln Cents — a small piece of the die surface breaks away above Lincoln's head, and the resulting cavity fills with metal during striking to produce a distinctive raised spike or horn projecting upward from the portrait. SKH-1c-1953S-04A documents a Stage A specimen from the 1953 San Francisco Lincoln Wheat Cent, featuring a small die chip above the head that defines the early state of this particular die failure. As the die continued in service, the chip would typically enlarge through subsequent stages, making Stage A examples the earliest and often scarcest die state. San Francisco struck approximately 181 million cents in 1953, one of the facility's higher Wheat Cent production years. Cross-referenced to Cohen Index 53S-59A PG 232 (documented October 28, 2019), this attribution connects the Cuds on Coins classification to the established Cohen indexing system for Lincoln Cent die varieties. The 1953-S date falls late in the Wheat Cent series, just five years before the reverse was replaced by Frank Gasparro's Lincoln Memorial design in 1959. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins, spiked heads are a subset of die chip varieties that continue to attract dedicated collectors who seek complete die stage progressions.

Attribution History

• Discovered by JC Stevens
• Cross reference number: Cohen Index 53S-59A PG 232, 10/28/2019.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References