1941 (D) Lincoln Wheat Cent - Repunched Mintmark WRPM-017

Description

Seventeenth documented repunched mint mark for the 1941 Denver Mint Lincoln Wheat Cent, WRPM-017 preserves evidence of the manual mint mark application process that was standard United States Mint practice through 1989. Before that year, individual mint marks were hand-punched into each working die using a small steel letter punch, and any misalignment between the initial placement and a corrective second strike left overlapping impressions visible on every coin struck from that die. The "W" prefix in the Wexler attribution system identifies this as a Wexler-cataloged repunched mint mark variety, distinguishing it from varieties tracked under other attribution services. No additional cross-references are currently known beyond the Wexler Variety ID: 1942-D 1-cent WRPM-024. The 1941-D cent was produced at the Denver Mint during the final full year before the United States entered World War II, a period when copper cent production still used the standard 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc composition that would be temporarily replaced by zinc-coated steel in 1943 due to wartime metal shortages. Seventeen repunched mint marks from a single date-and-mint combination demonstrates how frequently the hand-punching process produced visible doubling, particularly at Denver where production demands were high. Attributed by the Wexler Team, this variety contributes to a comprehensive registry of RPM varieties that documents the human element in an otherwise mechanized coining process.

Cross References

• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1941-D 1¢ WRPM-017

External References