1947-S Repunched Mintmark WRPM-011

Description

San Francisco's role as a branch mint in 1947 meant every Lincoln Wheat Cent struck there received its S mint mark through an individual hand-punch application — a manual process that occasionally produced the overlapping impressions collectors know as repunched mint marks. The Wexler Team cataloged this variety under Wexler Variety ID 1947-S 1¢ WRPM-011, documenting the eleventh such working die identified for the 1947-S date. The first full calendar year of peacetime after World War II saw all three active mints — Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco — working to rebuild a coin supply that had been strained by wartime hoarding and material diversion. San Francisco's cent production, while typically smaller than Denver's, still required a substantial number of working die pairs, and the documented RPM count reflects that output. Identifying WRPM-011 requires examining the mint mark area under at least moderate magnification, looking for a faint secondary S impression whose position, angle, or separation from the primary S matches the diagnostics published by the Wexler Team. None known cross-references exist outside the Wexler system for this variety at present.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Paul Funaiole Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1947-S 1¢ WRPM-011
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References