1938-D Over Mint Mark WOMM-001

Description

Cataloged by the Wexler Team and cross-referenced as CONECA OMM #1 and Cherrypickers FS-05-1938D-511 (020.5), the 1938-D WOMM-001 is a dramatic D/D/D/S over mint mark variety on the final-year Buffalo nickel. The attribution reveals four distinct mintmark impressions: two secondary D punches positioned south of the primary D, with the upper curve of an underlying S visible above the primary D and the diagonal curve of the S visible inside the primary D. This layered mintmark sequence indicates the die was initially prepared with an S mintmark for San Francisco, then overpunched with the D mintmark multiple times to reassign it to the Denver Mint — a practice that was common in this era when working dies were sometimes redistributed between facilities. Two die stages are documented: Stage A shows no significant obverse markers with a clean reverse, while Stage B exhibits a weak die clash at the throat on the obverse and late die state characteristics on the reverse, where the secondary mintmarks to the south have been abraded away and die deterioration doubling is visible on E PLURIBUS UNUM. The 1938-D Buffalo nickel was struck in 75% copper and 25% nickel, weighing 5.0 grams with a 21.21 mm diameter, designed by James Earle Fraser with the iconic Native American portrait and American bison. As the last year of the Buffalo nickel series (1913-1938), the 1938-D is already a key date with a mintage of only 7,020,000, and this over mint mark variety adds significant numismatic premium to an already desirable issue.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Lloyd Hanson (
• CONECA: OMM #1, Cherrypickers: FS-05-1938D-511 (020.5); Wexler Variety ID: 1938-D 5¢ WOMM-001
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References