SKH-1c-1959-02 Spiked Head

Description

Frank Gasparro's Lincoln Memorial reverse debuted in 1959, replacing the Wheat Ears design that had served for half a century — the most significant design change in the Lincoln Cent series since 1909. SKH-1c-1959-02 records the second cataloged spiked head die for this inaugural Memorial Cent year, struck at Philadelphia. While the reverse changed dramatically, the obverse retained Victor David Brenner's Lincoln portrait and its high-relief stress points where die cracks produce the spiked head phenomenon. This variety has not yet been assigned a Cohen Index number, representing a cataloging gap in Memorial Cent die variety documentation. The Wheat-to-Memorial transition created a natural boundary in variety research, and many first-year Memorial varieties remain formally uncataloged. The spiked head itself — a raised projection from Lincoln's head caused by a progressive die crack — forms through identical metallurgical processes regardless of reverse design. Collectors of transitional coinage will find 1959 spiked heads noteworthy as the earliest examples on the Memorial series.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Bill Carr
• Cross reference number:  Cohen not listed. 01/22/2018.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References