SKH-5c-1935-01 Spiked Head

Description

The sole documented spiked head for the 1935 Buffalo Nickel, the SKH-5c-1935-01 records a die chip creating a raised protrusion from the apex of the Native American profile on James Earle Fraser's distinctive obverse design. Spiked heads on Buffalo Nickels form at the highest point of the portrait — the top of the head and feathers — where the die cavity is deepest and striking force concentrates, producing the same metal fatigue that generates spikes on Lincoln Cents and Mercury Dimes but on a different portrait geometry. Fraser's Buffalo Nickel, produced from 1913 through 1938, features one of American coinage's most recognizable designs: a composite portrait of three Native American chiefs on the obverse and a bison (commonly identified as Black Diamond from the Central Park Zoo) on the reverse. The 1935 date falls in the penultimate phase of the series — only three more years of production remained before Felix Schlag's Jefferson Nickel replaced it in 1938. Attributed by Cuds on Coins with a catalog date of April 2024, this is among the more recently documented spiked heads, reflecting continued examination of Buffalo Nickel populations by variety specialists. Spiked heads on Buffalo Nickels are less commonly documented than on Lincoln Cents, making each cataloged example significant for the cross-denomination study of this die failure phenomenon.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Robert Oney
• Cross reference: none. 04/02/2024.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References