SKH-1C-2022-01 Spike Head

Description

First spike head variety documented for the 2022 Philadelphia Lincoln Shield cent in the Cuds on Coins catalog, SKH-1C-2022-01 inaugurates the die crack census for this production year and establishes the baseline from which subsequent 2022 entries will build. As the initial cataloged variety, SKH-1C-2022-01 may represent one of the earliest die failures in the 2022 production sequence or simply the first specimen submitted to the attribution service — the relationship between catalog sequence and production chronology is determined by the pace of collector discovery rather than manufacturing timelines. The Lincoln Shield cent design entered its twelfth year of production in 2022, with Victor David Brenner's obverse portrait and Lyndall Bass's Union Shield reverse continuing unchanged from the design's 2010 introduction. Philadelphia struck approximately 3.16 billion cents in 2022, maintaining the multi-billion-piece annual output that defines modern cent production. The formation mechanism for spike heads — fatigue crack initiation at stress concentration points in the high-relief hair detail at Lincoln's crown, followed by progressive crack growth to the die surface — operates identically regardless of production year, making spike heads a predictable variety type that will emerge from any year of sufficient production volume. The die steel used for modern coining presses is engineered to withstand cyclic loading, but the inevitable nature of fatigue failure means that some fraction of dies will develop cracks in the most stress-vulnerable areas before reaching their nominal service life. As the first entry for 2022, this variety marks the beginning of a census that will likely grow as additional specimens are submitted and verified by the Cuds on Coins attribution service. Collectors can identify spike heads at low magnification (3-5x) by examining the area above Lincoln's hairline for any raised projection extending toward the rim.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Jackie M
• SKH-1C-2022-01
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References