SKH-1c-1971D-09 Spiked Head

Description

Attributed by Cuds on Coins and documented on October 4, 2017, SKH-1c-1971D-09 records the ninth distinct spiked head working die identified for the 1971-D Lincoln Memorial cent. The discovery pace — multiple new varieties cataloged within weeks of each other during late 2017 — suggests that organized searching by one or more dedicated variety hunters was systematically working through accumulations of 1971-D cents during this period, methodically identifying and submitting new spiked head finds. This kind of concentrated discovery effort is characteristic of the die variety hobby, where a collector's focused attention on a specific date can unlock a cascade of previously unrecognized varieties from coins that had been handled countless times without examination. Each spiked head results from a fatigue crack at Lincoln's head on a separate working die, producing a raised metallic protrusion whose specific geometry — start point, angle, length, and curvature — fingerprints it to a single die. For SKH-1c-1971D-09, comparing the spike's orientation against the published photographs for SKH-08 and SKH-10 provides the surest path to attribution, since sequential catalog entries from the same date and mintmark can appear similar at first glance but differ in measurable geometric details visible under magnification.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Earl M
• Cross reference: none. 10/04/2017.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References