SKH-1c-1990-02 Spiked Head

Description

Reported on January 8, 2024 — nearly eight years after SKH-01 — SKH-1c-1990-02 on the 1990 Philadelphia Lincoln Memorial cent marks the beginning of a concentrated burst of spiked head discoveries for this date. The lengthy gap between the first and second spiked head reports does not mean these varieties were recently created; rather, the coins have been circulating or sitting in collections since 1990, awaiting examination by collectors equipped to recognize and document the spike phenomenon. The 2024 reporting cluster — three spiked heads documented within a single calendar year — likely reflects the growing accessibility of high-magnification digital photography and the expansion of online error coin communities where collectors share images for attribution assistance. Each spiked head variety represents a unique obverse die with its own distinct crack geometry, spike position, and die marker combination. The spike on SKH-02 would differ from SKH-01 in its precise point of origin on Lincoln's profile, its angle of projection, and its length — details that define the variety and prevent confusion between catalog entries. Struck on copper-plated zinc planchets composed of 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper, weighing 2.5 grams and measuring 19mm.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Mitch Wilkinson
• Cross reference: none. 01/08/2024.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References