1955-D Over Mint Mark OMM-012

Description

Designated in the VarietyVista catalog with markers UVC-1749 and DMR-020, this 1955-D Jefferson Nickel OMM-012 is an over mintmark variety described as D/S Centered — meaning a Denver Mint D mintmark was punched over a San Francisco Mint S mintmark that had been previously placed on the working die, with the D centered over the S position. Over mintmark varieties represent a distinct category from repunched mintmarks because they involve two different mint letters rather than two impressions of the same letter, indicating the die was originally prepared with one mint's mintmark and subsequently corrected with another's — a procedural artifact from the era when master dies and working hubs were sometimes shared between mint facilities, with individual mintmarks applied at the destination mint. Three documented die stages track production: Stage A with both reverse and obverse in early die state (EDS), Stage B in mid-die-state (MDS, unconfirmed), and Stage C in late die state (LDS, unconfirmed). The Jefferson Nickel was designed by Felix Schlag, struck at the Denver Mint in 1955 in copper-nickel composition (75% copper, 25% nickel) weighing 5.00 grams with a 21.21 mm diameter. Over mintmark varieties on Jefferson Nickels from the 1950s document the inter-mint die distribution logistics of the mid-20th century, where the Philadelphia Mint produced working dies that were then shipped to branch mints for mintmark application. The D/S centered classification indicates the Denver D was accurately placed over the erroneous S impression, and remnants of the S curves visible beneath the D provide the attribution evidence that confirms this as a genuine over mintmark rather than a simple repunched D.

Die Markers

• UVC-1749
• DMR-020
• Stage A:
• Reverse and Obverse are EDS
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Brian Ribar
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References