SKH-1c-2022-08 Spiked Head

Description

Eighth in the 2022 sequence, SKH-1c-2022-08 extends the documentation of portrait-rim die cracking on one of the most recent Lincoln Shield Cent dates in this catalog. Modern die varieties like spiked heads serve an educational function beyond their collectible status: they provide accessible, tangible examples of materials science principles that might otherwise remain abstract. When a collector examines a spiked head under magnification and sees the raised line projecting from Lincoln's brow or crown, they are observing cyclic fatigue failure — the same phenomenon engineers study in aircraft components and bridge structures. The scale is different, but the physics is identical. Steel subjected to repeated loading develops micro-cracks at stress concentrators, and those cracks grow incrementally with each cycle until reaching a critical length. On a coin die, that critical length produces a visible crack; on coins struck from that die, a raised spike. The 2022 Philadelphia cent weighs 2.5 grams and measures 19mm in diameter. Cuds on Coins assigned this eighth catalog entry following submission by a variety hunter who identified the distinct crack pattern.

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