SKH-1c-2016-13 Spiked Head

Description

Thirteenth spiked head in the 2016 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Shield Cent catalog, this variety continues the steady accumulation of die clash documentation for a date that ultimately generated a substantial number of entries. Thirteen spiked heads represents a meaningful count — indicating that across billions of cents produced and hundreds of die pairs consumed, at least thirteen distinct clash events produced visually diagnostic spikes on Lincoln's portrait. The Union Shield reverse design, with its deep-relief vertical lines representing the states, creates particularly sharp and recognizable transferred impressions when die clashes occur. Each of the thirteen entries documents a unique clash event on a unique die pair, identified by measuring the spike's position, angle, and length against fixed reference points on Lincoln's portrait. The 2016-P was the seventh production year for the Shield Cent design, and by this point the die variety community had accumulated extensive experience in locating and cataloging spiked heads efficiently. SKH-1c-2016-13 is cataloged by Cuds on Coins. Collectors pursuing 2016-P spiked heads can still find specimens in bank-wrapped rolls and boxes of cents, though identifying specific catalog numbers requires careful comparison against published die variety photographs and measurements.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Zach Llewellyn
• Cross reference: none. 06/17/2018.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References