1953-D 1c RPM Secondary D Into Vest Of Lincoln

This 1953-D Lincoln Cent displays a "Lazy D" lying on its back overlapping slightly into Lincoln's vest. At first it seems counterintuitive that a Mintmark could have been punched in at two different levels of the die simultaneously, i.e., into the field and recessed area of the vest. However, in an interview with United States Mint Engraver, Edgar Steever, he explained that engravers punching Mintmarks into dies needed to learn how to rock a punch at the moment of impact (of the mallet to punch) in order to get a complete impression into uneven areas of the field, particularly those punched in close to the rim where the field is convex on the die. By extension, this explained how this variety must have occurred; rocking the D into the vest.

Listed as CONECA: RPM-028 and Wexler: WRPM-040.
Side Notes
1) This coin sat in a box marked "coins for study" for over a decade until Mint Engraver, Edgar Steever provided me with the clue as to how it could happen.

2) The lesson here is that if you are not sure if a coin you found can be explained, or if it is a worthwhile collectable, it might be a good idea to keep it.

3) Most known examples of this coin are in a later, weaker die state than the one shown here. If you don't look close enough you could miss it.

4) This variety may sport a minor D/D South.

5) Some say there is remnants of another D down further in the base of bust. I do not agree this is a separate D.

US Mint Engraver punching Mintmarks into dies. Notice the tray of dies in the lower left of the image. Also notice that the punch is square. This is so that the Engraver can place his/her thumb on a flat surface for proper orientation of the punch to minimize rotational variations as we see on the coin below with a CCW rotation of the S.
Image by Arnold Margolis. Used with permission of Fred Weinberg.