Floating RPM?

[N-6471]

1943-P RPM.jpg I found something interesting on another 43-p Jefferson. This really looks like a part of a letter inside the U. As though it were accidently punched and then partially corrected. I've seen this sort of thing in the denticles of Morgans. Would this be a variety?

[Ray Parkhurst]

That looks like a die gouge to me. I would expect more of a "P" to show before I could say it was a mintmark. There would need to be enough of the mintmark showing to do an overlay to prove the anomaly came from an errant punching.

Sometimes you can shine the light from other angles, lower angles, etc and more details will show up. I suggest moving it all around with a single light to see if you can pull out some more detail suggesting the anomaly is actually an errant mintmark punch. If not, it's tough to say it's anything but a random die gouge.

[N-6471]

I'll see if I can get a better picture by moving the light. With a loop it looks more man made than a die gouge does. Thanks for the input.

[N-6471]

I think this shot shows the curve better. 1943-P RPM CU.jpgTo me it looks like the inside top portion of the P, where the curve begins.

[N-6471]

I went ahead and moved the curve shape down to the P mint mark to see if it lined up. If someone tried to remove the evidence of a misplaced mint mark maybe this is all that would remain. This seems to line up pretty well. 1943-P RPM CU overlay copy.jpg