1970-S Repunched Mintmark RPM-007

Description

Unlike the directional consistency seen on 1968 and 1969 proof nickel RPMs, the 1970-S RPM-003 introduces a tilted displacement — the first S mintmark was punched at a slight rotational angle relative to the final corrected position, creating an S/S Tilted variety rather than a simple cardinal-direction shift. Cataloged as UVC-446 and DMR-005, the die stage progression begins with Stage A unconfirmed in early die state, advances to Stage B where both reverse and obverse surfaces reach mid-die state, and Stage C at late die state remains unconfirmed. Tilted repunching requires a different kind of error than lateral displacement: the die setter not only placed the punch off-center but held it at a rotated angle before striking. The resulting overlap shows curved separation between the two S impressions rather than the parallel doubling of purely directional RPMs. San Francisco's proof production in 1970 utilized the same hand-punching techniques that had been standard practice since branch mints began applying their own mintmarks in the nineteenth century. This 75% copper and 25% nickel proof issue is one of six RPM varieties cataloged for the 1970-S proof Jefferson Nickel.

Die Markers

• UVC-489
• DMR-009
• Stage A:
• Obverse and Reverse are EDS
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Eric Axtell
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References