SKH-25c-1998P-02 Spiked Head

Description

Second spiked head variety for the 1998 Philadelphia Mint Washington Quarter, cataloged on April 30, 2017, by Cuds on Coins. Together with the -01 entry recorded a month earlier in March 2017, this pair of varieties constitutes the current spiked head catalog for the final year of the original heraldic eagle reverse. The 1998-P holds terminal-year significance: no subsequent Washington Quarters would carry the Flanagan eagle reverse, as the State Quarters program commenced in January 1999 with the Delaware design. Two spiked heads for this historic final year suggests the date has not been exhaustively searched, and additional varieties may await discovery as collectors work through remaining 1998-P quarter inventories. The die clash mechanism responsible for spiked heads operates consistently across all dates: a planchet feed failure allows the obverse and reverse dies to make direct contact, and reverse design elements transfer into the obverse die as raised features on subsequently struck coins. Each spiked head is distinguished by the precise characteristics of the resulting spike — its position relative to Washington's portrait, the angle of projection, and the length of the raised element. No cross-references to other attribution systems exist for this variety. Philadelphia's 1998 quarter production maintained standard circulation supply levels, consuming die pairs at the rate typical for the facility's late-1990s operations. The one-month gap between the -01 and -02 catalog dates suggests both varieties may have been discovered during the same research period or examination of a shared coin source.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Andrew Wojtowich
• Cross reference: none. 04/30/2017.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References