SKH-1c-2017D-01 Spiked Head

Description

Denver Mint spiked heads on the 2017 Lincoln Shield Cent open with SKH-1c-2017D-01, the first cataloged portrait-area die crack from Denver's 2017 production run. The 2017 date is notable in the spiked head catalog because it produced documented varieties from both the Philadelphia and Denver facilities, allowing researchers to compare die failure patterns across the two major cent-producing mints operating under the same hub design and similar but not identical press configurations. Denver's 2017 cent output ran into the billions, and the die population required to sustain that output was correspondingly large. Each die in the population carried the same obverse hub impression—Lincoln's portrait with the Shield reverse introduced in 2010—but individual dies vary in their metallurgical response to fatigue based on subtle differences in heat treatment, hardening, and the specific press they were installed in. SKH-1c-2017D-01 documents one Denver die's unique fracture event. Attributed and cataloged by Cuds on Coins.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Jim Ussery
• Cross reference: none. 04/05/20183
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References