SKH-1c-1973-01 Spiked Head

Description

Attributed on August 8, 2016, by the Cuds on Coins team, SKH-1c-1973-01 is the sole documented spiked head variety for the 1973 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Memorial cent. No cross-references to other attribution services have been established. The single-entry status for Philadelphia stands in stark contrast to the eleven spiked head varieties documented for the Denver Mint's 1973 production (SKH-1c-1973D-01 through -11, skipping -02), despite Philadelphia's slightly higher total mintage (approximately 3.73 billion vs. 3.55 billion). This disparity likely reflects differences in collector searching activity between the two date-mint combinations rather than a genuine difference in die failure rates, though variables such as die steel batches, heat treatment protocols, and press operating parameters between the two facilities could also contribute. A spiked head occurs when a fatigue crack develops at the deepest point of the obverse die cavity — Lincoln's portrait apex — and propagates to the die's working surface. The resulting narrow channel fills with planchet metal under striking pressure, producing a raised spike or horn projecting from the top of Lincoln's head on the finished coin. SKH-1c-1973-01's spike geometry — its angle, length, emergence point, and width — serves as the unique diagnostic for this variety. As the only documented Philadelphia spiked head for the date, attribution is straightforward: any 1973 (no mint mark) Lincoln cent displaying a portrait-apex spike matches this single catalog entry, without the multi-variety differentiation challenge present for the Denver issues.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Dustin Ickow
• Cross reference: none. 08/08/2016.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References