SKH-1c-1971D-22 Spiked Head

Description

Extending the already prolific 1971-D spiked head catalog into its upper twenties, SKH-1c-1971D-22 documents yet another obverse die that developed a fatigue crack at Lincoln's head during service at the Denver Mint. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins on January 10, 2018, this variety arrived during a sustained wave of discoveries that pushed the 1971-D spiked head count well beyond the twenty-one entries documented in the initial catalog — ultimately growing toward a total of thirty-nine or more, the largest concentration for any single date and mintmark in the Lincoln Memorial cent series. The spiked head phenomenon results from die cracks initiating at the high-relief contour of Lincoln's portrait, where the intricate hair detail creates stress concentrations in the die steel. As the crack opens, it forms a narrow channel that fills with planchet metal during each strike, producing a raised spike projecting from the head into the surrounding field. SKH-1c-1971D-22's specific crack geometry — its departure angle, length, and width — distinguishes it from the twenty-one preceding entries and the seventeen that would follow. No cross-references to other attribution systems have been established for this variety. For collectors pursuing the complete 1971-D spiked head set, entries in the twenties represent the deeper end of a collecting challenge that demands careful photographic comparison against the published reference images for each numbered variety.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Bob Byrd
• Cross reference: none. 01/10/2018.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References