SKH-1c-1983D-07 Spiked Head

Description

At seven documented spiked head varieties, the 1983-D Lincoln Memorial cent has produced one of the deeper spiked head censuses for any single date-mintmark combination in the series. SKH-1c-1983D-07 records a die crack radiating from the crown of Lincoln's portrait on a die distinct from all six previously cataloged entries, adding another data point to the pattern of die failures concentrated at this specific feature of the Lincoln design. Victor David Brenner's enduring Lincoln portrait, introduced in 1909 and refined through subsequent master die preparations over the decades, features pronounced hair detail at the top of the head that creates deep recesses in the working die — and these recesses act as stress concentrators that nucleate cracks under the millions of repeated impacts each die absorbs during its service life. The spiked head phenomenon is therefore not a random occurrence but a predictable consequence of the interaction between die geometry and mechanical fatigue, and dates with high production volumes naturally accumulate more documented examples as more dies enter and exit service. Without external cross-references, this entry's identification relies on positional documentation within the Cuds on Coins registry, where photographic overlays and die marker catalogs distinguish each spiked head from its census neighbors. Attribution by Cuds on Coins.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Mike Durney
• Cross reference: none. 06/27/2019.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References