SKH-1c-1984-05 Spiked Head

Description

As the final spiked head entry in the 1984 Philadelphia Lincoln Memorial cent catalog — and the concluding variety in the 1975-1984 enrichment sequence — SKH-1c-1984-05 closes a chapter spanning a decade of Philadelphia Mint cent production. The spiked head phenomenon on this date demonstrates how high-volume manufacturing creates repeatable failure patterns: five separate dies, each developing a crack radiating from Lincoln's portrait, each producing coins with a distinctive spike that collectors find and attribute years or decades later. The February 19, 2021 documentation date shows the catalog still growing more than thirty-six years after the coins were struck, a testament to both the vastness of the surviving population and the persistence of the searching community. Authentication of any 1984-P spiked head requires confirming the raised line originates from the portrait recess, maintains consistent geometry across specimens, and matches a cataloged entry's reference photographs. Struck on copper-plated zinc planchets at 2.5 grams and 19mm from Philadelphia's 1984 production of 8,151,079,000 cents, this variety marks the end of the 1975-1984 enrichment batches.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Jeff Ylitalo
• Cross reference: none. 02/19/2021.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References