SKH-1c-2016-07 Spike Head

Description

Carrying the Cuds on Coins catalog designation SKH-1c-2016-07, this spike head variety was identified on a 2016 Philadelphia Lincoln Shield cent, the seventh such die failure documented for that production year. The Lincoln Shield cent series, which debuted in 2010 with Lyndall Bass's Union Shield reverse replacing the four rotating 2009 bicentennial designs, maintains Victor David Brenner's iconic Lincoln portrait that has graced the cent obverse since 1909 — and it is precisely at the crown of this portrait where spike head varieties manifest. Die steel at the top of Lincoln's head endures concentrated mechanical stress because the incuse cavity for the hair detail creates a thin wall of steel between the design and the die face, and repeated striking can initiate fractures that propagate through this vulnerable zone. When metal flows into the resulting crack or chip during striking, it produces a raised spike or protuberance on the finished coin that extends upward from the portrait. Philadelphia's 2016 cent production totaled approximately 4.70 billion pieces, sustaining the massive output levels that characterize modern cent manufacturing and ensuring that individual dies experienced the extensive use necessary for fatigue-related failures to develop. The spike head phenomenon is not unique to any single year or mint — it appears throughout the Lincoln cent series from wheat reverse through memorial and shield issues — but each individual spike head represents a distinct die with its own unique crack geometry and resulting spike shape. At 5-10x magnification, the spike is typically visible as a raised line or irregular protrusion extending from the top of the hair into the surrounding field, and confirming it requires finding the same feature on multiple specimens struck from the same die.

External References