SKH-1c-2006-05 Spiked Head

Description

Reaching the fifth documented spiked head for the 2006 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Memorial Cent, this variety represents the current highest entry for the date and was cataloged by Cuds on Coins on May 1, 2024 — a notably recent addition that demonstrates the ongoing nature of die variety discovery. The 2006-P was struck during the late Memorial Cent era, just two years before the design's 2008 retirement, and its five spiked heads document a moderate level of die clash activity during one of the final production years for this iconic reverse type. Die clashes on the 2006-P follow the identical mechanism observed across all Memorial Cent dates: the high-speed coining press occasionally cycles without feeding a planchet, the Lincoln Memorial reverse contacts the obverse die, and the Memorial's columns, steps, and entablature transfer into the die face. The resulting raised spike on Lincoln's portrait carries characteristics unique to each clash event's specific die pair alignment. Five entries for a single date represents a solid but not exceptional tally, consistent with a year that produced billions of cents but without the extraordinary searching intensity that propelled 1990s dates to counts of twenty or more. The 2024 documentation date for this fifth entry — eighteen years after the coins were produced — illustrates that the vast quantity of mid-2000s cents still available in circulation and storage provides ample material for continued variety hunting. Late-series Memorial Cent spiked heads like this one hold particular appeal for collectors who appreciate the historical dimension of searching coins from a design type that has since been replaced.

Attribution History

• Discovered by William (Bill) W
• Cross reference: none. 05/01/2024.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References