SKH-1c-2006-03 Spiked Head

Description

Cataloged on September 20, 2017 by Cuds on Coins, the third spiked head for the 2006 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Memorial Cent arrived during a period of active late-series Memorial Cent documentation. Researchers working through this date in the late 2010s were building catalogs for years that had received less attention than the heavily searched 1990s dates, and the 2006-P proved to be a moderate producer of die clash varieties. The third spiked head confirms that at least three separate die pairs from the 2006-P production experienced the die clash event that generates these varieties: the press cycles without a planchet, the Lincoln Memorial reverse contacts the obverse die, and the Memorial's architectural features transfer into the die face to create a raised spike on Lincoln's portrait. The 2006-P cent was struck in quantities exceeding four billion coins, utilizing hundreds of die pairs during the year. Three documented clash events from this die pair population represents a small but meaningful sample, indicating that the high-speed presses at Philadelphia generated occasional planchet feed failures throughout the production run. The spike geometry for this third entry differs from both the -01 and -02 varieties, providing the diagnostic markers needed for attribution. With the Lincoln Memorial reverse design approaching its final two years of production, 2006-P spiked heads carry a dimension of design-era significance that adds context to the purely mechanical die clash story. Collectors interested in documenting the last Memorial Cent die clashes find dates like 2006-P particularly relevant.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Keith Christenson
• Cross reference: none. 09/20/2017.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References