1947-D Repunched Mintmark WRPM-024

Description

Cataloged by the Wexler Team as 1947-D 1¢ WRPM-024, this Lincoln Wheat Cent presents a D/D repunched mintmark where the secondary impression is tilted or rotated relative to the primary — a rotational RPM where the mintmark punch was applied at a different angle during the corrective second strike, creating a distinctive fanned separation pattern around the D letter's curves. Two documented die stages provide diagnostic progression: Obverse Stage A features north-northeast to south-southwest die scratches at the ERT of LIBERTY, while Obverse Stage B shows a die clash remnant at the throat of Lincoln's portrait — transferred reverse design detail from an empty-chamber die-to-die impact event. Reverse Stage A markers include an X-shaped die scratch between the second T in STATES and the T in CENT, plus a die scratch running south from the bottom of the C of CENT ending at the top of the I of UNITED. Reverse Stage B adds a dot-sized die chip on the lower left of the right leg of the N of UNITED. No cross-references to other cataloging systems are currently known. The Lincoln Wheat Cent was struck at the Denver Mint in 1947 in bronze composition (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc) weighing 3.11 grams with a 19.05 mm diameter. Victor David Brenner designed the obverse Lincoln portrait, while the wheat ears reverse served from 1909 through 1958. The tilted/rotated repunch on this 1947-D cent documents the manual mintmark application process at the Denver Mint, where engravers hand-punched the D letter into each individual working die — a technique that made rotational misalignment on the initial strike a recurrent possibility, producing the diagnostic D/D patterns systematically cataloged in the Wexler files and actively collected by variety specialists.

Attribution History

• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1947-D 1¢ WRPM-024
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References