SKH-1c-1971D-10 Spiked Head

Description

Tenth spiked head variety documented for the 1971-D Lincoln Memorial cent, SKH-1c-1971D-10 was recorded on October 9, 2017 — just five days after SKH-09 — illustrating the rapid pace at which new varieties were being identified during this period of concentrated examination. Attributed by Cuds on Coins, this variety marks the catalog's crossing into double digits for a single date and mintmark, a threshold that underscores the exceptional productivity of the 1971-D date for this particular die crack type. Reaching ten distinct spiked head dies places the 1971-D in rarefied territory: most Lincoln Memorial cent dates produce fewer than five cataloged spiked heads, and many produce none at all. The concentration on the 1971-D date appears to reflect a combination of factors — the massive mintage requiring hundreds of working dies, each die's exposure to the stress cycles that promote head-area cracking, and the relatively high survival rate of a common-date coin ensuring that specimens from each fractured die remain discoverable decades later. For collectors assembling a complete 1971-D spiked head set, SKH-10 represents the halfway point toward the eventual catalog total, with eleven more varieties awaiting identification and acquisition beyond this entry.

Attribution History

• Discovered by John Nugent
• Cross reference: none. 10/09/2017.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References