SKH-25c-1998P-05 Spiked Head

Description

Fifth documented spiked head for the 1998 Philadelphia Mint Washington Quarter, SKH-25c-1998P-05 was cataloged by Cuds on Coins on February 26, 2018. Five spiked heads represents the highest concentration documented for any single date in the pre-State Quarter clad Washington Quarter series, making the 1998-P an unusually productive source of die clash varieties on this denomination. The mechanism is consistent with all spiked heads: during a planchet feed failure, the obverse and reverse dies contacted each other directly, and heraldic eagle reverse detail transferred into the obverse die, creating a raised spike on Washington's portrait in subsequent strikes. The 1998-P quarter holds the distinction of being the very last regular-issue Philadelphia Mint quarter bearing the original Flanagan eagle reverse — the 1999 Delaware quarter would inaugurate the State Quarters program the following year, ending a sixty-six-year run of the eagle reverse on circulation quarters. Five documented die clashes on this terminal date may reflect either heightened production pressures during the final year or simply the effects of sustained collector attention to a date with valedictory significance. Each of the five spiked heads must be distinguished from the others through precise measurement of spike characteristics — position relative to Washington's portrait, angular orientation, and length — diagnostics that Cuds on Coins catalogers apply systematically to ensure each entry represents a genuinely distinct die clash event. No additional cross-references are recorded, placing the Cuds on Coins catalog as the sole attribution resource for this variety. The February 2018 catalog date indicates discovery approximately two decades after the coins were produced.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Andrew Wojtowich
• Cross reference: none. 02/26/2018.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References