1974-D Repunched Mintmark RPM-001

Description

Attributed by VarietyVista as 1974-D RPM-001, this repunched mint mark variety shows a D/D with the secondary impression rotated counterclockwise relative to the primary "D" placement. A repunched mint mark occurs during die preparation when the small letter punch used to apply the mint mark to the working die is struck more than once, with subsequent blows landing at a slightly different position or angle. On RPM-001, the rotational component of the displacement — rather than a simple directional shift — indicates that the punch was applied at a marginally different angle during one of the impressions, producing a tilted ghost image partially visible beneath or alongside the final, dominant mint mark. The VarietyVista attribution system assigns this variety the Universal Variety Code UVC-3410 and Die Marker Reference DMR-006, providing standardized reference numbers for cross-service identification. Three die states have been documented in progressive order: Stage A in Early Die State (EDS), Stage B in Mid Die State (MDS), and Stage C in Late Die State (LDS). The mid-die-state markers are particularly useful for attribution — Stage B exhibits a die scratch through the E of UNITED on the reverse and a die depression at the right eave of the Lincoln Memorial. These secondary diagnostics become important when evaluating specimens where the repunched mint mark displacement itself may be difficult to resolve due to strike quality or surface preservation. The Denver Mint's massive 1974 output of approximately 4.24 billion cents required a prodigious number of die pairs, and each die's mint mark was applied individually by hand during this era — a manual process inherently susceptible to the slight positional and angular errors that produce RPM varieties.

Die Markers

• UVC-3410
• DMR-006
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• Obverse is MDS
• Die scratch through E of UNITED – MDS
• Die depression at Right eave
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Eric Axtell
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References