SKH-25c-1996-01 Spiked Head

Description

Spiked heads are overwhelmingly documented on Lincoln Cents, which makes this Washington Quarter example genuinely unusual. SKH-25c-1996-01 is the first and only documented spiked head for the 1996-P quarter, a denomination where the die fill mechanism is far less commonly cataloged. A spiked head forms when foreign matter lodges in the die cavity near the portrait — in this case Washington's rather than Lincoln's — and the void produces a raised spike of metal on the struck coin. The mechanism operates identically regardless of denomination, but the larger quarter diameter means the spike is proportionally smaller relative to the overall design, potentially harder to detect without magnification. This business strike was produced at the Philadelphia Mint and is cataloged by Cuds on Coins. The 1996-P Washington Quarter predates the State Quarter program that would begin in 1999, placing it in the traditional eagle-reverse series designed by John Flanagan. The scarcity of documented spiked heads on quarters suggests either genuine rarity on this denomination or underrepresentation driven by fewer researchers examining quarters for this specific die fill error.

Attribution History

• Cross reference: none. 09/29/2016.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References