1971-S Repunched Mintmark RPM-007

Description

Tracked by VarietyVista under die marker codes UVC-1228 and DMR-009 with the diagnostic notation S/S South, this 1971-S Proof Washington Quarter RPM-007 displays a repunched S mintmark where the secondary impression is positioned south of the primary — meaning the initial S punch was placed slightly too high, and the corrective second strike shifted the final mintmark downward, leaving the first impression’s remnant visible above the accepted placement. Three die stages record this working die’s progression: Stage A confirms both obverse and reverse at early die state (EDS); Stage B is mid-die state (MDS, unconfirmed); Stage C is late die state (LDS, unconfirmed). The EDS confirmation for Stage A provides evidence that specimens exist from the die’s earliest production period, when the repunched mintmark detail would appear at maximum sharpness before any wear softened the diagnostic features. A southward S/S displacement is the directional opposite of the more common northward corrections seen on other 1971-S and 1972-S proof quarter RPMs, making this directional variant diagnostically distinctive within the series. The 1971-S Proof Washington Quarter was struck at the San Francisco Mint in copper-nickel clad composition weighing 5.67 grams at 24.26 mm diameter. John Flanagan’s design depicts George Washington after Houdon’s bust, with the heraldic eagle reverse. The San Francisco Mint’s role as the exclusive producer of proof coinage during this era meant all proof quarter dies were prepared and mintmarked at that facility, where the manual S punch application process generated the positional variations now cataloged across multiple RPM numbers for each proof date.

Die Markers

• UVC-1228
• DMR-009
• Stage A:
• Obverse and Reverse are EDS
• Stage B:
• MDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

Attribution History

• Discovered by Timothy Wissert
• Expert attribution by VarietyVista

External References