1988-D Repunched Mintmark RPM-002

Description

Documented by VarietyVista with die markers UVC-750 and DMR-003, this 1988-D Roosevelt Dime RPM-002 exhibits a D/D Southwest repunch direction as noted in the comments — meaning the initial D mintmark was placed slightly northeast of the intended position, with the corrective southwest punch creating the final placement and leaving a remnant of the first impression visible northeast of the final D. Three die stages document the working die's service life: Stage A where both the obverse and reverse are in early die state (EDS); Stage B in mid-die-state (MDS), unconfirmed; and Stage C in late die state (LDS), also unconfirmed. The Stage A designation with both sides in EDS represents the freshest documented condition of this die pair, when the repunched mintmark would be at its sharpest and most clearly defined before any accumulation of wear or die deterioration could soften the secondary impression. John R. Sinnock designed the Roosevelt Dime, and this 1988-D was struck at the Denver Mint in clad composition (outer layers of 75% copper and 25% nickel bonded to a pure copper core) weighing 2.27 grams with a diameter of 17.9 mm. The 1988-D date falls near the end of the era of hand-punched mintmarks on U.S. coinage — by 1990, the Mint had transitioned to including mintmarks directly in the master die, eliminating the individual die-by-die hand-punching process that produced repunched mintmark varieties. This makes late-1980s RPMs among the final examples of a die variety type that had been generated throughout the history of U.S. branch mint production, and the southwest displacement direction on this variety documents one of the last operational instances of the traditional mintmark application technique at Denver.

Die Markers

• UVC-750
• DMR-003
• 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