SKH-1c-1971S-01 Spiked Head

Description

Bearing the same SKH-1c-1971S-01 catalog designation but listed under the regular strike parent rather than the proof parent, this spiked head variety on the 1971-S Lincoln Memorial cent documents the identical catalog entry as seen in the proof-titled version — attributed by Cuds on Coins with no cross-references and a documentation date of September 14, 2018. The dual listing reflects different import source hierarchies rather than two distinct physical varieties, though the business strike context invites consideration of how spiked heads manifest differently across strike types. On business strike 1971-S cents produced at San Francisco for general circulation, die cracks at Lincoln's head develop under the relentless pace of high-speed production striking, where each die processes a larger volume of planchets at faster cycling rates than proof dies. The mechanical genesis remains identical — fatigue-driven crack nucleation at the stress concentration of Lincoln's high-relief hair detail, followed by crack propagation into the field and channel-filling with planchet metal during subsequent strikes — but business strike dies typically accumulate more total strikes before retirement, providing greater opportunity for crack development and growth. The resulting spike on a business strike coin appears against the standard cartwheel lustre of an uncirculated surface or the worn fields of a circulated specimen, rather than the mirror finish of a proof. For collectors encountering this variety in circulation finds or roll searching, the raised spike projecting from Lincoln's head remains the diagnostic identifier — a thin, linear raised feature extending outward from the portrait into the adjacent field, distinguishable from planchet defects or post-strike damage by its precise die-origin geometry that appears identically on every coin struck from the same cracked die.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Jim Ussery
• Cross reference: none. 09/14/2018.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References