SKH-1c-1958-03 Spike Head

Description

A proof die variety from the final year of the Lincoln Wheat Cent design, this spike head carries the added significance of belonging to a terminal date. The Wheat Cent reverse, designed by Victor David Brenner and in continuous production since 1909, would be replaced the following year by Frank Gasparro's Lincoln Memorial reverse — making 1958 proof die varieties the last of their type. SKH-1c-1958-03 is the third documented spike head for the 1958 Proof Lincoln Wheat Cent, cataloged by Cuds on Coins and not listed in the Cohen Index. A spike head forms when foreign matter becomes lodged in the die cavity near Lincoln's portrait, and the void in the die creates a raised spike of metal on each coin struck from it. Proof coins from 1958 were struck at the Philadelphia Mint with polished dies and specially prepared planchets, yet the die fill mechanism that produces spike heads can occur even under these controlled conditions. Terminal-date proof die varieties attract collector interest from both series specialists completing the Wheat Cent design and type collectors seeking the most distinctive proof examples from the final year of a fifty-year design run.

Attribution History

• Discovered by JC Stevens
• Cross reference number: Cohen Index Not Listed. 09/16/2016.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References