Type III MintMark for 81 Proof Coins?

FrattLaw

In another thread a question arose over the different types of mintmarks for the 1981-S proofs. Without question, there are two. They are distinct and for the most part, easy to differentiate.

However, I as well as others have submitted various denominations with mintmarks that weren't Type Is but got rejected by PCGS as Type IIs. As for my submission, I know for sure, these were not Type Is, they were examined under 20X microscope and where clearly different. Perhaps not a true Type II, but had clear distinct, unfilled S.

Question - Is there a Type III that hasn't been attirbuted yet? Has anyone eslse had the same experience with PCGS?

Thanks
Michael

TheNumish

There are certainly different shaped mintmarks but they are all lumped together as type I's. I guess the difference in shapes isn't dramatic enough to give different designations. I've always thought it would be interesting if someone did a study to see how many actual different mintmarks there really are.

cladking

I suspect that a lot of those apparent type III's are just type I's which weren't
punched as deeply. So essentially rather than a different type with a different
MM it's just the "top" of the type I so it looks different. It is not unusual for there
to be subtle differences from one die to the next and these occasionally occur
on features with known varieties. This effect you mention is especially noticeable
on the dollar.




Oops. Yes, punched!

supercoin

The mintmarks of that era were punched in by hand with a mintmark punch. Which is why we have variations across all denominations.

One S mintmark punch was used for some prior years and into the early part of the 1979 production (the 1979 Type 1). It broke and a new punch (the 1979 Type 2) entered production, was used for 1980, and for most of 1981 (the 1981 Type 1). It broke too, and a new one was used for a few 1981 coins (the 1981 type 2) and some later years.

Given that they are punched in by hand, as you might expect the mintmarks can and do vary in appearance, and even orientation and position.

I have seen 1981 mintmark types that I had an awfully hard time distinguishing. And I have seen coins in Type 2 holders that sure didn't look Type 2 to me. If you're paying a premium for a Type 2, you might as well buy a nice fat obvious one.

By the way, based on the history of the mintmark, you can see real-world examples of the variations by looking at the known types found in these year proof sets:

1978 = 1979 Type 1
1980 = 1979 Type 2 and 1981 Type 1
1982 = 1981 Type 2