Nothing unusual, until the 1980's all mintmarks were hand stamped into each individual die. Because of this there is wide variation in mintmark placement.
There was a member once who thought the mint marks were stamped onto each individual coin one by one.. That would take eons!.. I explained the procedure to them then they understood
let's talk Cents. For each year before 1989 the Obverse Die was created. Then the D or S mint mark was stamped into the Die. That's why there not all in the same location sometimes. RPM's are mint marks that were stamped more than once.
Why would they stamp them twice? Wouldn't that make it a more common error? Since the same die was used to strike many many coins?
Because they weren't satisfied with the first strike. It was done by hand. So if the first strike was not good enough they gave it 1 more wack.
The answer is yes. For each year there were many Dies made to be used to strike millions of pennies. Each one would eventually become worn then replaced and destroyed. So if there were a few Obverse dies with an RPM then there were thousands of Cents with that particular variety. That's why RPM's are known as a variety. Here are some websites for the definition - https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/1655/Variety-versus-Mint-Error/ https://www.pcgs.com/news/mint-error-or-die-variety And here is a website with a RPM listing and more information about other varieties such as Doubled die and OMM's https://www.doubleddie.com/307764.html
So doubled die and multiple strike is 2 different things. This is some good reading... still confused on how the 2 are different.. guess I gotta study on the minting process too... I havent read the last one yet, unless I've already read it before. I'll take a look at it later. But thank you. I just learned some new stuff
Doubled Die is a Die variety. It occurs when the die is created hence a Doubled Die Double strike is a striking error when the blank planchet is struck more than once or there is a slight mechanical skip the makes a double effect. That's why one is doubled and the other double. Big difference. Keep reading and it will make a lot of sense soon.
How can you spot the difference? Would machine doubling be a striking error? Which would make it an error and not a variety? Since it was caused by machine
Alot of the references I've seen of doubled die looks identical to MD. Some of the doubled die varieties I cant even see how it's a doubled die... idk.. I guess I just got alot more studying to do
I am a mint error specialist. Collecting since 1985. I'm not interested in searching for varieties such as minor doubled die. For me it is a waste of time. But that's just my opinion.