2025 (P) Lincoln Shield Cent - SKH-1c-2025-01 Spiked Head

Description

SKH-1c-2025-01, a spike head on the 2025 Philadelphia Lincoln Shield cent, was cataloged by the Cuds on Coins attribution service. Modern high-speed coining technology has not eliminated the fundamental metallurgical vulnerability at the crown of Lincoln's head that has produced spike heads throughout the series' history. Victor David Brenner's Lincoln portrait, now in its one hundred and sixteenth year of continuous production, remains the longest-running obverse design in United States coinage, and the spike head phenomenon serves as a tangible reminder that even highly automated modern minting processes are subject to the same physical laws of metal fatigue that affected nineteenth-century hand-operated coin presses. Lyndall Bass's Shield reverse, in its fifteenth year of production by 2025, pairs with the Brenner obverse to create the current standard cent design. Collectors who encounter 2025 cents in pocket change or bank rolls are well positioned to contribute by systematically examining the top of Lincoln's head under modest magnification. The freshness of the date means that specimens circulate in high-grade condition, making the raised spike feature easier to detect against the relatively unworn surrounding hair detail compared to heavily circulated earlier dates.

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