SKH-1c-2007D-01 Spiked Head

Description

Denver Mint spiked heads on Lincoln Memorial Cents are less commonly documented than their Philadelphia counterparts, making this inaugural entry for the 2007-D a noteworthy catalog addition. SKH-1c-2007D-01 was cataloged on January 18, 2021, by Cuds on Coins, recording the first confirmed die clash event producing a raised spike on Lincoln's portrait from a Denver Mint die pair. The die clash mechanism operates identically at both mints — a planchet feed failure allows the obverse and reverse dies to contact each other, and Memorial reverse elements transfer into the obverse die — but the documentation of Denver Mint spiked heads has historically lagged behind Philadelphia, possibly due to differences in collector distribution patterns or die production practices. The 2007-D Lincoln Memorial Cent was produced in the penultimate year of the Memorial reverse, with only the 2008-D remaining before the 2009 bicentennial designs. Frank Gasparro's Memorial reverse had been in continuous service since 1959, and by 2007 the design and its die production were fully mature. A single documented spiked head from 2007-D may represent the only clash event that produced a diagnostically visible spike on Denver dies for this date, or it may be the first in a sequence awaiting expansion as more 2007-D cents are examined. The -01 designation establishes this variety as the reference point for the date and mint, and its presence confirms that die clash events occurred at Denver during the final years of Memorial Cent production.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Robert Oney
• Cross reference: none. 01/18/2021.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References