SKH-1c-2016-09 Spiked Head

Description

Ninth spiked head in the census for the 2016-P Lincoln Shield cent, SKH-1c-2016-09 approaches the double-digit threshold in a die crack catalog that would ultimately exceed 17 varieties for this date. Philadelphia produced approximately 4.67 billion cents in 2016, one of the highest annual outputs in cent production history, and the resulting die consumption generated abundant opportunities for portrait-area die cracks to develop across the thousands of obverse working dies employed during the year. Spiked heads on Lincoln Shield cents originate from the same fundamental mechanism as their wheat and Memorial cent predecessors: the narrow ridges of die steel that separate incuse portrait elements fracture under repeated striking impact, creating channels that capture planchet metal and form raised projections on the finished coin. The copper-plated zinc composition used since 1982 is particularly susceptible to flowing into die cracks because the zinc core deforms readily under striking pressure, and the resulting spikes are often clearly defined even when the underlying crack is quite fine. Victor David Brenner's Lincoln portrait provides the design context for all spiked head varieties, and the portrait's detailed hair rendering — representing individual strands through closely spaced incuse lines — creates the highest density of vulnerable die steel ridges. Lyle Okerlund's Union Shield reverse, featuring the geometric shield design with its horizontal state-representing lines and vertical unity stripes, has paired with the obverse since 2010 to form the Shield cent. At position nine in the census, this variety sits comfortably in the mid-range of 2016-P spiked head discoveries, distinct from its eight predecessors and eight successors by the unique positional characteristics of its spike on Lincoln's portrait. Cataloged by the Cuds on Coins service without cross-references, identification requires standard 10-15x magnification and comparison against published diagnostics.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Earl M
• Cross reference: none. 06/26/2017.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References