SKH-1c-2018-09 Spiked Head

Description

Ninth and highest-numbered spiked head currently cataloged for the 2018-P Lincoln Shield cent, SKH-1c-2018-09 may represent the current boundary of the documented census, though additional discoveries could expand it. Philadelphia produced approximately 4.22 billion cents in 2018, an enormous volume that generated thousands of working dies and the statistical certainty that numerous portrait-area die cracks developed throughout the production year. Nine documented spiked heads represents a moderate census — higher than the earliest Shield cent years but below the prolific counts of 2015 and 2021 — possibly reflecting the available variety hunting attention during a given calendar year rather than any fundamental difference in die behavior. The spiked head formation process is consistent across all modern Lincoln cents: narrow die steel ridges within the incuse portrait fracture under cyclic striking loads, and copper-plated zinc planchet metal fills the resulting channels to create raised projections on finished coins. Each variety is distinguished by the unique position and angle of its spike, which is determined by the specific crack geometry on the individual working die. As the ninth variety in the census, SKH-1c-2018-09 was likely among the later discoveries for the date, found after the most prominent and easily detected spiked heads had already been cataloged. Victor David Brenner's obverse portrait, continuously used since 1909, provides the portrait topography where cracks originate, while Lyle Okerlund's Union Shield reverse, introduced in 2010, displays the bold geometric design representing national unity. The Cuds on Coins service maintains the definitive spiked head census and provides diagnostic reference images for each cataloged variety. Collectors should examine Lincoln's portrait under 10-15x magnification and compare the spike's precise location, angular direction, and approximate length against published diagnostics for confident attribution to this specific SKH number.

Attribution History

• Discovered by William (Bill) W
• Cross reference: none. 10/17/2024.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References