SKH-1c-1973D-06 Spiked Head

Description

The sixth spiked head attributed for the 1973 Denver Lincoln Memorial cent, SKH-1c-1973D-06 was documented by the Cuds on Coins team on December 23, 2020. No cross-references to other cataloging services have been established. This attribution came approximately six months after the fifth entry (June 2020), representing a period of renewed discovery activity for the 1973-D date's spiked head varieties during the second half of 2020. The December dating — just before year's end — may reflect a collector who had been searching through 1973-D cent rolls or bags and submitted the find upon confirming it did not match existing catalog entries. At six documented varieties, the 1973-D spiked head census was approaching the substantial totals seen for other high-mintage dates in the Lincoln Memorial series, confirming that Denver's massive production volume generated the die-stress conditions necessary for repeated portrait-apex failures across the die population. Each individual die's metallurgical composition, heat treatment, and service history determined whether and when a fatigue crack would initiate at the portrait apex — meaning the six varieties documented through this entry represent six different dies with six different failure timelines, each producing its own population of spiked head cents before being retired from service. SKH-1c-1973D-06's unique spike angle and dimensions distinguish it from all five prior entries and serve as the primary diagnostic for collectors attributing specimens.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Robert Oney
• Cross reference: none. 12/23/2020.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References