SKH-1c-2011-05 Spiked Head

Description

Fifth spiked head variety cataloged for the 2011-P Lincoln Shield cent, SKH-1c-2011-05 records a mid-census die crack discovery from the early Shield cent era when variety hunters were establishing the baseline documentation for the new reverse design. Philadelphia's 2011 production of approximately 2.40 billion cents, while substantial, was notably lower than the 4+ billion annual outputs that would characterize later years of Shield cent production, and the seven total spiked heads documented for this date reflect the proportionally smaller die consumption. The spiked head mechanism is universal across Lincoln cent production: fatigue cracking in the die steel around the incuse portrait creates channels that fill with planchet metal, producing raised projections on struck coins. Position five in a seven-variety census places this variety in the middle range of 2011-P spiked head discoveries. Victor David Brenner's obverse portrait of Lincoln has served as the foundation for spiked head varieties since 1909, and the portrait's essential character — the detailed hair rendering, the strong brow, the distinctive profile — has remained recognizable through over a century of production despite periodic refinements in master die preparation. Lyle Okerlund's Union Shield reverse debuted in 2010, meaning 2011 was the second year of the Shield cent format. The shield design's vertical stripes and horizontal lines, scroll banner reading ONE CENT, and E PLURIBUS UNUM motto represent a distinctly heraldic aesthetic. Each of the seven documented 2011-P spiked heads is attributed to a distinct working die that developed its own unique crack, producing a spike at a characteristic position and angle. Collectors seeking to match their specimen to SKH-05 should use 10-15x magnification and compare the spike's exact portrait-area location against published Cuds on Coins reference images, as the positional distinction between consecutive SKH numbers can be subtle on specimens with similar crack locations.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Andrew S
• Cross reference: none. 04/23/2017.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References