1998 (P) Washington Quarter - SKH-25c-1998P-03 Spiked Head

Description

Third documented spiked head for the 1998 Philadelphia Mint Washington Quarter, SKH-25c-1998P-03 was cataloged by Cuds on Coins on May 8, 2017. This variety extends the spiked head phenomenon from cents — where it is most commonly documented — to the quarter denomination, recording a crack in John Flanagan's Washington Quarter obverse die that produced a raised spike from Washington's portrait. The die crack is the same on every denomination: a fracture opens in the obverse die and runs from the rim into the bust. On Washington Quarters, metal filling the crack during striking stands as a raised spike meeting Washington's portrait. The 1998-P quarter represents the final year of the original Washington Quarter reverse design before the State Quarters program launched in 1999, making spiked heads from this date among the last produced with the classic eagle reverse that had served the denomination since 1932. Three spiked heads from a single date and mint indicates that several obverse dies cracked this way during the year's production, consistent with the high-volume output of Philadelphia's quarter presses. The absence of additional cross-references beyond the Cuds on Coins catalog entry reflects the relatively recent and specialized nature of spiked head documentation on quarters compared to the more extensively cataloged cent varieties. SKH-25c-1998P-03 contributes to a cross-denominational spiked head census that shows the same die crack across United States coinage.

Cross References

• Cross reference: none. 05/08/2017.

External References