1948-S Repunched Mintmark WRPM-003

Description

Showing S over S with southward displacement, this third repunched mintmark for the 1948 San Francisco Mint Jefferson Nickel documents the hand-punching process used to apply mintmarks to individual working dies during this era. Die markers on the obverse include a die gouge inside the lower O in GOD and a short die gouge running through the top left of the R in LIBERTY, while reverse markers show die scratches running SSE from the bottom right of Monticello through the second A in AMERICA and die scratches running NW from the top of the V in FIVE. Attributed by the Wexler Team under Wexler Variety ID 1948-S 5-cent WRPM-003, this variety resulted from a second impression of the S mintmark punch south of the initial placement. Before the Mint began hubbing mintmarks directly into master dies in the late 1980s and early 1990s, each working die received its mintmark through an individual punch, and imprecise alignment between the first and second punch impressions created the repunched effect. The 1948-S Jefferson Nickel was struck during the post-war era when San Francisco resumed standard nickel composition production after the wartime silver alloy program ended in 1945. RPMs from this period are actively collected as documentation of now-obsolete die preparation methods.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Brian Ribar Cross References: None known
• None known; Wexler Variety ID: 1948-S 5¢ WRPM-003
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References