SKH-25c-2000P-03(MA) Spiked Head

Description

Third in the spiked head census for the Massachusetts State Quarter, SKH-25c-2000P-03(MA) records a spiked head variety on the 2000 Philadelphia issue — part of the landmark 50 State Quarters Program (1999-2008) that reinvigorated American coin collecting by featuring unique reverse designs for each state. Spiked head varieties occur when a die crack or die chip develops at the top of the portrait's head on the obverse, producing a raised spike, horn, or protrusion extending upward from George Washington's head on John Flanagan's quarter design. The mechanism involves a small piece of die steel either cracking and slightly displacing at the rim of the incuse portrait cavity, or a chip forming that fills with metal during striking and transfers as a raised spike on the finished coin. The catalog designation follows the standard format: SKH for spiked head, 25c for the quarter denomination, 2000P for the Philadelphia Mint date, 03 indicating the third spiked head documented for this issue, and MA identifying the Massachusetts reverse design. Philadelphia produced approximately 628.6 million Massachusetts quarters in 2000, an enormous output that consumed vast numbers of working dies and correspondingly increased the opportunity for die deterioration varieties including spiked heads. The Massachusetts quarter reverse, designed by Thomas D. Rogers Sr., features a Minuteman statue alongside a state outline, but spiked head varieties are obverse phenomena affecting the standardized Washington portrait common to all state quarter issues. Collectors examining 2000-P Massachusetts quarters should inspect the top of Washington's head for an anomalous raised projection extending above the normal hair contour, typically visible at 5-10x magnification depending on the spike's prominence.

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