1832 Repunched Lettering WRPL-001

Description

Early American die preparation produced this repunched lettering variety on an 1832 Capped Bust Dime, where individual letters of the legend were punched into the working die by hand and at least one letter received a second impression at a slightly different position. The Capped Bust Dime, designed by William Kneass as a modification of John Reich's earlier Capped Bust concept, was produced from 1809 through 1837, spanning the era when every element of a coin's design — portrait, eagle, stars, lettering, date — was hand-applied to each die individually. This labor-intensive process made repunched lettering, repunched dates, and other positional varieties virtually inevitable. Cross-referenced as Breen 12 and Wexler Variety ID 1832 HD WRPL-001, the Breen reference connects this variety to Walter Breen's comprehensive die variety encyclopedia that documented early American coinage varieties. Reverse die markers include a die scratch extending west from the rim above the M in AMERICA. Philadelphia struck 522,500 dimes in 1832, a modest output that makes any variety from this date relatively scarce compared to later nineteenth-century issues. Attributed by the Wexler Team, WRPL-001 stands as the first cataloged repunched lettering variety for the 1832 Capped Bust Dime, connecting modern variety attribution methodology to the hand-crafted die production era that preceded industrialized die manufacturing.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Roger Beckner Cross References: Breen 12
• Breen 12; Wexler Variety ID: 1832 HD WRPL-001
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References