2011 (P) Lincoln Shield Cent - SKH-1c-2011-11 Spiked Head

Description

Collectors who systematically hunt Lincoln Shield Cents for die varieties find that spiked heads offer entry points into error coin collecting. SKH-1c-2011-11, the eleventh such variety documented for 2011, exemplifies the steady production of these die failures across early Shield cent years. The mechanism behind every spiked head is consistent: repeated striking creates stress concentrations where Lincoln's high-relief portrait meets the die rim, and eventually a crack develops. That crack appears on finished coins as a raised line or spike projecting from Lincoln's head — sometimes upward, sometimes at an angle, depending on precisely where the fracture initiated. Philadelphia's cent production during this period ran into the billions, meaning each working die was expected to strike hundreds of thousands of planchets before retirement. The copper-plated zinc composition remained standard, and Bass's Shield reverse continued its second year of production. This variety is attributed by Cuds on Coins.

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