SKH-1c-1959-01 Spiked Head

Description

Carrying dual attribution as both a spiked head and a doubled die reverse, this first-year Lincoln Memorial Cent variety is cross-referenced as WDDR-011 and Cohen 59-61. The 1959 date marks a transitional moment in cent design history — the debut of Frank Gasparro's Lincoln Memorial reverse, which replaced Victor David Brenner's Wheat Ears motif after fifty years of continuous production. A spiked head forms when foreign matter lodges in the die cavity near Lincoln's portrait, producing a raised spike of metal on the struck coin, and in this case the obverse die exhibiting the spiked head was paired with a reverse die that also carries hub doubling. The dual-feature nature of SKH-1c-1959-01 makes it especially appealing to die variety collectors, as both the obverse anomaly and the reverse die variety can be studied on a single coin. This business strike was produced at the Philadelphia Mint. SKH-1c-1959-01 is cataloged by Cuds on Coins with the Cohen Index listing 59-61, placing it among the documented die pairings for the inaugural Memorial Cent year. Collectors pursuing first-year-of-issue varieties will find this dual attribution a notable entry.

Attribution History

• Discovered by JC Stevens
• Cross reference number: WDDR-011, Cohen 59-61. 02/02/2017.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References