SKH-1c-1969D-05 Spiked Head

Description

Also documented on December 9, 2017 alongside variety 04, SKH-1c-1969D-05 is the fifth spiked head attributed to the 1969-D Lincoln Memorial cent. The simultaneous reporting of varieties 04 and 05 exemplifies how systematic searching can expand the known variety census for a date — once a collector identifies the first spiked head from a particular date, subsequent examples from the same search session often follow. Each spiked head represents a separate obverse die that sustained damage during its working life, and with Denver employing potentially hundreds of obverse dies across the 1969 cent production run, the pool of candidates is enormous. The appeal of spiked heads extends beyond traditional variety collecting into the broader error coin community, where dramatic visual characteristics are prized regardless of variety classification complexity. A bold spike projecting prominently from Lincoln's head catches the eye immediately in a group of otherwise identical cents, making these varieties popular conversation pieces and introductory error coins for new collectors. The 1969-D date, with its ten documented spiked heads, offers one of the densest populations of this variety type for any single Lincoln cent date and mint combination.

Attribution History

• Discovered by JC Stevens
• Cross reference: none. 12/09/2017.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References