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New coin collectors and those outside of the hobby seem to have all kinds of ideas about coins that either aren’t true.
Of course, that’s often the case when people are unfamiliar with something.
I was reading Numismaster, which is an online coin periodical, and came across this article in which an editor who wrote the piece talks about a person who thinks all proof coins are silver coins — and that the ‘s’ mint mark on copper-nickel clad proof coins is there to make unsuspecting buyers think they’re purchasing silver coins.
Wow! Of course, that’s not true.
The ‘s’ mint mark on U.S. coins simply denotes the coin has been made at the San Francisco mint.
And not all proof coins are silver.
That story just goes to show how extreme some of those urban myths can be!
I’m the Coin Editor here at TheFunTimesGuide. My love for coins began when I was 11 years old. I primarily collect and study U.S. coins produced during the 20th century. I’m a member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA) and the Numismatic Literary Guild (NLG) and have won multiple awards from the NLG for my work as a coin journalist. I’m also the editor at the Florida United Numismatists Club (FUN Topics magazine), and author of Images of America: The United States Mint in Philadelphia (a book that explores the colorful history of the Philadelphia Mint). I’ve contributed hundreds of articles for various coin publications including COINage, The Numismatist, Numismatic News, Coin Dealer Newsletter, Coin Values, and CoinWeek. I’ve authored nearly 1,000 articles here at The Fun Times Guide to Coins (many of them with over 50K shares), and I welcome your coin questions in the comments below!