SKH-25C-1996P-10 Spike Head

Description

Tenth in the documented spike head sequence for the 1996 Philadelphia Mint Washington Quarter, SKH-25C-1996P-10 captures yet another die clash event from a year of prolific quarter production. Philadelphia's 1996 quarter output exceeded 925 million coins — a production volume that consumed hundreds of die pairs across the year's press runs and generated repeated opportunities for the planchet feed failures that cause die clashes. When the dies strike each other without an intervening planchet, the heraldic eagle reverse transfers raised design elements into the obverse die, and subsequent coins display a spike extending from Washington's portrait. The tenth spike head for this date-and-mint indicates that at least ten separate die pairs experienced clash events, each producing a unique spike characterized by its specific position, angle, and length on the Washington portrait. John Flanagan's classic design, with its detailed rendering of Washington's profile including the tied-back hair and colonial-era queue, provides numerous surface contours where transferred reverse detail can appear as a distinctive protrusion. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins, the 1996-P spike heads document die clash frequency during the penultimate era of the original Washington Quarter reverse. Collectors building comprehensive spike head sets for the 1990s Washington Quarter series find the 1996-P date among the more productive years to search, with a double-digit count of documented varieties providing both collecting depth and the ongoing possibility of undiscovered examples.

Attribution History

• SKH-25C-1996P-10
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References