SKH-1c-1958D-03 Spiked Head

Description

Struck during the final year of the wheat reverse design, this spiked head represents one of the last opportunities for this particular die failure type on Lincoln wheat cents. Cataloged as SKH-1c-1958D-03 by the Cuds on Coins attribution service, it documents the third distinct spiked head die identified for the 1958-D issue. The spiked head phenomenon occurs when a die crack develops from the rim through the highest point of Lincoln's portrait — the top of the head near the hairline — creating a raised fin or spike of metal on every subsequent coin struck from that die. Denver produced approximately 800.95 million wheat cents in 1958, the denomination's swan song year before the transition to the Lincoln Memorial reverse in 1959 designed by Frank Gasparro. Victor David Brenner's obverse portrait, approaching its fiftieth anniversary at that point, had been reproduced on billions of coins through thousands of working dies, and the area where the top of Lincoln's head meets the adjacent rim remained the most structurally vulnerable zone for crack initiation throughout the entire wheat cent era. Each spiked head die tells a unique story through the specific angle, length, and width of its spike — SKH-1c-1958D-03 would exhibit characteristics distinct from both SKH-1c-1958D-01 and SKH-1c-1958D-02, as each crack follows its own propagation path through the die steel based on local metallurgical conditions and stress patterns. The "03" sequential designation confirms that at least three different obverse dies developed this specific failure mode during the 1958-D production run, testimony to the enormous volume of dies consumed at the Denver facility. Examination under 5-10x magnification at the 12 o'clock position reveals the spike extending from the rim into the portrait.

Attribution History

• Discovered by JC Stevens
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References