SKH-1c-1948S-01 Spiked Head

Description

San Francisco cent production in the late 1940s ran well below Philadelphia and Denver output levels, making die varieties from S-mint issues scarcer in absolute terms. SKH-1c-1948S-01, assigned Cohen Index 48S-59, records a spiked head die crack on the 1948-S Lincoln Wheat Cent — a date with modest mintage compared to its P and D counterparts. The raised spike projects from Lincoln's portrait where a fatigue crack created a channel for metal to flow upward under striking pressure. With fewer total coins produced from each S-mint die run, the surviving population of any given variety is inherently smaller, and higher-grade specimens become proportionally harder to locate. San Francisco's declining role in cent production during this period foreshadowed its cessation of cent coinage after 1955. For collectors assembling spiked head sets by mint mark, S-mint entries like Cohen 48S-59 represent the more challenging acquisitions due to lower original output and fewer surviving examples in the marketplace.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Marvin L
• Cross reference number: Cohen Index 48S-59. 08/03/2022.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References