SKH-1c-1973D-09 Spiked Head

Description

Nearly two years separate this entry from its predecessor in the catalog: SKH-1c-1973D-09 was attributed by the Cuds on Coins team on February 6, 2023, following the June 2021 date of the eighth entry. No cross-references to other attribution systems have been established. This extended gap likely reflects a period of reduced searching activity or simply the increasing difficulty of locating new, undocumented varieties within the surviving 1973-D cent population. By the time a catalog reaches nine entries for a single date, the remaining undiscovered varieties tend to be those with subtler spikes or those produced by dies that were retired relatively quickly after crack initiation — resulting in smaller surviving populations that are statistically harder for searchers to encounter. The ninth spiked head variety for the 1973 Denver cent nonetheless passed the attribution team's differentiation analysis, confirming that its spike geometry does not duplicate any of the eight previously cataloged entries. As with all spiked heads, the variety originates from a fatigue crack at the obverse die's portrait apex, with the specific crack path through the die steel creating the unique spike profile that identifies this particular die's production. Collectors pursuing advanced completion of the 1973-D spiked head series should note that the later entries in the catalog (those numbered -07 and above) tend to be discovered by experienced variety searchers who have already eliminated the more prominent earlier-cataloged examples from their search parameters.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Mitch Wilkinson
• Cross reference: none. 02/06/2023.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References