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I have a player who wants to purchase a light steel shield with spikes, 1d4 damage, and add the shield bashing quality. I say that the bashing quality is under the armor/shield quality and does not stack with the armor spikes (which I believe are weapons).
I agree with you. Shield spikes must be enhanced as a weapon separately from the shield and there is no weapon enhancement that allows the weapon to increase its damage by two sizes. A light off-hand weapon doing 1d8 base damage for +1 bonus cost is borderline to say the least. He could very easily escalate this with enlarge person and go on to enhance the spikes as a weapon as well.
By comparison, to get the same average damage using legal weapon enhancements, he could make the spikes a +2 weapon, which would cost him twice as much, not give him an AC bonus and not allow him a cheap route to enhance them for further damage.
I'd probably allow him to apply the damage type of the shield spikes on a bashing strike, giving him 1d6 bludgeoning and piercing. edit: That gives him the same options as above to increase his spike damage further, but only in line with light exotic weapons, which would cost him feats to use effectively as shield bashing does.