1883-O Repunched Mintmark WRPM-004

Description

Attributed by the Wexler Team as 1883-O $1 WRPM-004 and submitted by Hartley Cole, this Morgan Dollar repunched mint mark shows the O over O in a southeast direction — indicating the mint mark punch was applied at least twice with the second impression shifted slightly to the southeast of the initial position. Die markers for positive attribution include a tooling gouge at the back of the hair on the obverse and multiple reverse markers: a light east-west die crack running through the top of ITE of UNITED, and a die scratch extending southeast from the dentil above the right side of the F in OF toward the right wing. The cross-reference to VAM numbers 13 and 34 connects this Wexler attribution to two different VAM designations in the Van Allen-Mallis system, indicating that the same repunched mint mark die was paired with at least two different obverse dies to create separate die marriages — each receiving its own VAM number while sharing the common WRPM-004 reverse. Repunched mint marks on New Orleans Mint Morgan Dollars are particularly common because the O mint mark was applied individually to each working die by hand at the branch facility, and the positioning varied with each application. The 1883-O Morgan Dollar had a mintage of approximately 8.7 million, and the New Orleans Mint's production techniques of this era routinely produced detectable variations in mint mark placement. The multiple die markers — tooling gouge, die crack, die scratch — provide a constellation of attribution points that enable positive identification even when the primary RPM feature is partially obscured by wear. The dual VAM cross-references add considerable collecting versatility to this variety.

Attribution History

• Wexler Variety ID: 1883-O $1 WRPM-004
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References