SKH-1c-2021-10 Spiked Head

Description

Die polishing, performed periodically by mint technicians to extend die service life and remove surface irregularities, interacts with developing cracks in ways that can either enhance or partially mask a spiked head variety. When a die with an incipient crack is polished before the crack has fully developed, the polishing action may remove some surface metal from the crack edges, altering the spike's eventual appearance when it does form. In other cases, polishing can clean the crack interior sufficiently that subsequent strikes produce a sharper, better-defined spike. For SKH-1c-2021-10 on the 2021 (P) Lincoln Shield Cent, the specific interaction between any die polishing events and the crack that produced this variety is not publicly documented, but the possibility of polishing influence is part of the interpretive context that makes die state analysis a nuanced discipline. Varieties that show evidence of intermediate die polishing between documented states are particularly valuable for understanding the full sequence of a die's working life.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Robert Oney
• Cross reference: none. 08/22/2022.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References