1923-S Repunched Mintmark RPM-001

Description

Cataloged by VarietyVista with die identifier UVC-1172 and die marker reference DMR-002, the 1923-S RPM-001 documents an S/S Southeast repunched mintmark on a Lincoln Wheat Cent — the initial San Francisco mintmark punch displaced to the southeast of its final corrected position, leaving visible traces of the first impression shifted down and to the right of the primary S. The S/S Southeast directional pattern indicates the engraver's initial strike landed slightly high and to the left of the target, with the corrective second punch placing the mintmark in its proper position. Three die stages are recorded: Stage A in early die state (EDS), unconfirmed; Stage B with both obverse and reverse in mid-die-state (MDS); and Stage C in late die state (LDS), unconfirmed. The RPM-001 designation as the first cataloged repunched mintmark for the 1923-S date indicates this was either the earliest discovered or the most prominent RPM variety for this date-mint combination, giving it primacy within the 1923-S RPM catalog. The Lincoln Wheat Cent was struck at the San Francisco Mint in 1923 in 95% copper composition (with tin and zinc) at 3.11 grams with a 19.05 mm diameter. The 1923-S had a relatively low mintage of approximately 8.7 million pieces, making it one of the scarcer semi-key dates in the Wheat Cent series. Victor David Brenner designed the obverse portrait, and the wheat ears reverse was in its fifteenth year. The San Francisco Mint's manual mintmark application process — hand-punching the S into each working die — inherently generated positional variations, and the southeast displacement direction helps differentiate this RPM from other potential RPM varieties sharing the 1923-S date.

Die Markers

• UVC-1172
• DMR-002
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• Obverse and Reverse are MDS
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Eric Axtell
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References