1872-S Half Dime mint marks, above & below wreath....

ms70

What's the story behind the above wreath & below wreath mint marks for that year? I can't find any good source of information on
why that happened. Any forum knowledge or links would be greatly appreciated!

darktone

TTT. Not really sure either- maybe it struck up better in the new location? mike

Conder101

In the early years of the seat half dime the mintmark was placed in the wreath below the denomination. In 1860 the reverse was redesigned whch created more space below the wreath and the mintmark was moved there, probably because it was more in the pattern of all of the other silver coins which had their mintmarks below the wreath. In 1870 they started puting the mintmark inside the wreath again above the ribbon bow, probably because there is more space there. (Maybe an apprentice engraver decided to put it there because it was easier than trying to squeeze it in between the rim and the wreath.) In 1872 the mintmark again returned to the area below the wreath. (Engraver go slapped down?) The reason the 1872 comes both ways is probably because the mintmark within wreath coins were most likely struck using dies leftover from 1871.

A better question is why the 1875 CC dimes come both ways