SKH-1c-2016-03 Spiked Head

Description

After the extraordinary sixty-five spiked heads cataloged for 2015, the 2016 Lincoln Shield Cent shows a markedly different profile. SKH-1c-2016-03 is only the third entry for the year, and with at least six total documented (as SKH-1c-2016-06 exists), the count represents a dramatic decline from the prior year's output. Whether this drop reflects changes in die management at the Philadelphia Mint, reduced collector interest in submitting discoveries, or genuine improvements in die longevity is difficult to determine from catalog numbers alone. The spiked head mechanism itself did not change — die steel still fractures at the portrait-rim boundary under cyclical stress — but the frequency clearly fluctuated. For collectors, low-count years can paradoxically create scarcity: with fewer dies affected, fewer specimens exist, making any given 2016 spiked head potentially harder to locate in rolls than its 2015 counterparts. The cent maintained its standard specifications — 2.5 grams of copper-plated zinc, 19mm diameter, no mintmark for Philadelphia — while carrying Brenner's portrait and Bass's Shield into a seventh year of combined service.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Mike Diamond
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References