1883-O Repunched Mintmark WRPM-005

Description

Documenting an O/O Southeast repunched mint mark on the 1883-O Morgan Dollar, WRPM-005 was attributed by the Wexler Team and cross-referenced as VAM-13 and VAM-34, linking this variety to two separate entries in the Van Allen-Mallis catalog. The dual VAM references indicate that the same repunched O mint mark appears on die pairs cataloged under both VAM numbers, likely paired with different obverse dies. Obverse die markers include a tooling gouge at the back of the hair, while the reverse shows a light east-west die crack through the top of ITE in UNITED and a die scratch running southeast from the dentil above the right side of the F in OF to the right wing. Repunched mint marks on Morgan Dollars occurred because each working die received its mint mark individually by hand punch at the Philadelphia Mint before shipment to branch mints. When the initial impression was unsatisfactory — positioned incorrectly or struck at the wrong angle — the mint mark was repunched, leaving traces of the original position visible beneath or beside the final placement. The 1883-O Morgan Dollar was struck at the New Orleans Mint with a mintage of approximately 8.7 million pieces during the Gilded Age, when Morgan Dollar production was driven by the mandatory silver purchases of the Bland-Allison Act. The southeast displacement of the repunched O means the initial punch landed northwest of the final position.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Hartley Cole Cross References: VAM: #13 and #34
• VAM: #13 and #34; Wexler Variety ID: 1883-O $1 WRPM-005
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References