SKH-1c-1973D-05 Spiked Head

Description

Attributed on June 1, 2020, by the Cuds on Coins team, SKH-1c-1973D-05 marks the fifth documented spiked head variety for the 1973 Denver Mint Lincoln Memorial cent. No external cross-references have been assigned. The June 2020 attribution date arrives more than two years after the previous entry (January 2018), representing one of the longer gaps in the 1973-D spiked head catalog's discovery timeline. Such extended intervals between new attributions can reflect either a genuine decrease in active searching by the collector community or simply the increasing difficulty of finding new, previously undocumented varieties within a population that has been progressively searched over many years. A spiked head develops through metal fatigue at the die's deepest cavity — the apex of the Lincoln portrait incuse in the die — where cyclic stress from repeated striking eventually nucleates a crack. Once this crack breaches the die's working face, it acts as a channel through which soft copper planchet metal is extruded under striking pressure, forming the raised spike visible on the finished coin. The dimensions and trajectory of SKH-1c-1973D-05's spike differentiate it from the four previously cataloged entries, confirming it originated from a fifth unique die. Collectors should note that early die states may exhibit only a faint spike while late die states — after the crack has widened through continued use — may show a more prominent projection.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Robert Oney
• Cross reference: none. 06/01/2020.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References