US Coins

Repunched 1943-D/D Lincoln cent tops $10,000

By Steve Roach

Published: Apr 5, 2018, 7 AM

This 1943-D/D Lincoln cent shows a strongly repunched Mint mark with the secondary D visible to the unaided eye. The MS-67 variety, among the finest known, sold for $10,200.

Images courtesy of Stack’s Bowers Galleries.

A detailed look at the 1943-D/D Lincoln cent with the secondary D highly visible.

Images courtesy of Stack’s Bowers Galleries.

The ESM Collection of Lincoln Cents led the March 22 Rarities Night auction by Stack’s Bowers Galleries at the Whitman Baltimore Expo. Pete Miller’s collection was the current and all-time finest set of Lincoln Cents with Major Varieties in the Professional Coin Grading Service Set Registry. The collection’s top lot was one of just three known 1958 Lincoln, Doubled Die Obverse cents, this piece graded PCGS Mint State 64 red, that brought $336,000. A 1969-S Lincoln, Doubled Die Obverse cent graded PCGS MS-64 red with a green Certified Acceptance Corp. sticker realized $126,000.

These weren’t the only stars, and here is another that stood out:

The Lot:

1943-D/D Lincoln cent, Repunched Mint Mark, MS-67

The Price:

$10,200

The Story:

The 1943-D/D Lincoln cent with a strongly repunched Mint mark is another variety that can be easily seen without magnification. This one, graded PCGS MS-67, is among the finest certified.

The variety is seeing increasing popularity, thanks largely to Bill Fivaz and J.T. Stanton’s Cherrypickers' Guide, where it is listed as FS-501, and thanks also to its status as the only 1943 die variety listed in the “Red Book.”

Where is the missing 1908 pattern for the original 1908 Indian Head half eagle formerly in the designer’s collection? Also in this issue, we take a look at both old and new varieties and what collectors are finding in their collections.

Zinc-coated steel planchets were used only in 1943, replacing the normal bronze planchets used for cents. At the time, Mint marks were punched into dies by hand, and occasionally Mint marks were repunched. Here a secondary Denver D Mint mark is seen boldly impressed northeast of the first D punch. This is one of eight examples similarly graded at PCGS, with a sole MS-67+ piece being the finest graded at PCGS. It was previously offered at a 2005 Heritage auction when it was then one of six graded MS-67 and brought $9,775. On March 22 in Baltimore it realized $10,200.

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