1935-D Repunched Mintmark RPM-001

Description

Holding the primary RPM designation for the 1935-D Mercury dime, RPM-001 exhibits a D/D North repunching — the initial D mintmark was punched too low, and the corrective second punch was applied in the final northward (higher) position, leaving remnants of the original lower D visible beneath the accepted mintmark. Adolph A. Weinman's Mercury dime reverse positions the D mintmark to the right of the fasces, a location where hand-punching variations were common across the series' 1916-1945 production span. Denver struck approximately 10.48 million Mercury dimes in 1935, a mid-Depression output that was climbing from the reduced levels of the early 1930s. The northward repunching direction means the diagnostic evidence appears below the final D position, where the top serifs or upper curve of the initial lower punch peek out from beneath the accepted mintmark. As RPM-001, this is the first and presumably most prominent repunched mintmark documented for the 1935-D date, warranting careful examination by any collector who encounters this issue. The D/D North displacement pattern is one of the more common directional repunchings found on Mercury dimes, as the vertical axis of mintmark placement appears to have been more variable than the horizontal in the Denver Mint's hand-punching workflow. Examination under 10-15x magnification should be directed at the lower edge of the D mintmark, where the residual first punch impression extends slightly below the bottom of the final D. Tilting the coin at a shallow angle under a point light source helps reveal the secondary impression, which often appears as a faint shadow or outline of the D's lower curve extending beneath the primary mintmark's baseline.

External References