SKH-25c-1996P-03 Spiked Head

Description

Third in the extensive sequence of spiked heads documented for the 1996 Philadelphia Mint Washington Quarter, this early entry was cataloged on February 14, 2017, by Cuds on Coins. The February 2017 date makes it one of the earliest-recorded 1996-P spiked heads in the catalog, predating many of the higher-numbered entries that were added over the following seven years. The 1996-P quarter's spiked head catalog would eventually grow to at least nineteen documented entries, establishing this date as one of the most productive for die clash varieties in the entire Washington Quarter series. Each spiked head records a unique die clash event: the obverse and reverse dies contacted each other without a planchet between them, and the heraldic eagle reverse left a transferred impression in the obverse die that manifested as a raised spike on Washington's portrait. The third entry in sequence implies the spike characteristics — position, length, angle, and any associated die cracks or markers — differ from both the -01 and -02 entries, allowing confident differentiation between the three die pairs involved. No cross-references to other attribution services exist for this specific variety. Philadelphia Mint quarter production in 1996 was robust, feeding circulation demand across the eastern United States and generating the large number of die pairs necessary to sustain nineteen documented clash events. Collectors examining 1996-P quarters in circulation finds or roll searches have a statistically meaningful chance of encountering one of these spiked head varieties given the breadth of the documented catalog.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Andrew Wojtowich
• Cross reference: none. 02/14/2017.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References