SKH-1c-1993-15 Spiked Head

Description

Photographing a spiked head effectively requires understanding how light interacts with a small raised feature against a flat background, and SKH-1c-1993-15 — the fifteenth cataloged spiked head on the 1993 Philadelphia Lincoln Memorial cent from Cuds on Coins — presents the same imaging challenge as every variety in its class. The spike is a raised projection, meaning it casts a shadow when illuminated from the side and reflects light differently than the surrounding field. Low-angle directional lighting from a single source produces the best contrast: positioning the light so it rakes across the spike from one side causes the projection to cast a visible shadow on the downslope side while catching a bright highlight on the lit face. Axial lighting — light from directly above — tends to wash out the spike by eliminating shadows, making the feature harder to distinguish from the background. For the copper-plated zinc surface of a 1993-P cent, the reddish-copper tone provides natural contrast against any shadow cast by the spike, and careful white balance adjustment prevents the warm metal tones from overpowering subtle surface details in the photograph.

Attribution History

• Discovered by John Nugent
• Cross reference: none. 10/21/2017.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References