Mint Marks On Coins Explained – Learn what all of the COIN MINT MARKS look like + Where mint marks are located on US COINS!
This video answers all of your questions about mint marks on coins! Have an S coin? P coin? D coin? C coin? W coin? O coin? CC coin? You will learn what all of those letters mean on US coins.
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⚡TIMESTAMPS FROM THE VIDEO⚡
00:00 – What Is A Mint Mark?
00:15 – Philadelphia Mint (“P” Mint Mark)
00:27 – Denver (D) + San Francisco (S) + West Point (W)
00:40 – Charlotte Mint (“C” Mint Mark)
00:51 – Carson City Mint (“CC”) + Dahlonega Mint (“D”)
01:12 – New Orleans Mint (“O” Mint Mark)
01:29 – Where Do Mint Marks Appear On Coins?
01:51 – No Mint Mark Coins
02:10 – How Much Is A Penny With No Mint Mark?
02:23 – What Does NO Mint Mark Mean?
02:54 – Mint Marks On Some Quarters
03:14 – Most No Mint Mark Coins Are From The Philly Mint
03:24 – 1951-S Penny and 1973-D Penny
03:41 – Where Are Mint Marks On Coins (Front or Back)?
03:55 – Mint Marks Appeared On The Reverse Until 1968
04:12 – Jefferson Nickel Mint Mark Locations (Then vs Now)
04:32 – Roosevelt Dime Mint Mark Location
04:51 – Washington Quarter Mint Mark Location
05:06 – National Park & State Quarters Mint Mark Location
05:35 – Summary Of Mint Marks On Coins In Circulation
TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, this is Josh with The Fun Times Guide and today I’m here to talk a bit about mint marks. Now a mintmark is a single letter (but sometimes 2 letters in combination) that indicate where a coin was struck.
There are various U.S. Mint facilities — including:
The Philadelphia Mint, which for most of its history did not place mint marks on coins. Though when it has, it is a “P” mintmark.
The Denver Mint in Colorado uses a “D” mint mark to indicate its coins.
The San Francisco mint in California has an “S” mintmark.
There are also mints in West Point, New York with a “W” mintmark.
And Charlotte, North Carolina — which operated from 1838 through 1861 and made gold coins only. And it has “C” mintmarks on its coins.
There’s also the Carson City, Nevada Mint — which struck gold and silver coins from 1870 through 1893. It has a “CC” mintmark.
The Dahlonega, Georgia Mint — which operated from 1838 through 1861 struck gold coins. It has a “D” mintmark. But again, you can’t confuse that “D” mintmark for the Denver mint mark — because those 2 mints did not operate concurrently.
And then finally, there’s the New Orleans Mint which has an “O” mintmark on its coins. It operated from 1838 to 1861, with a brief hiatus for a couple decades. It returned to service in 1879 and struck coins again through 1909.
Now, these coins here are the kinds of mintmarks you’ll most typically find in circulation. Lincoln cents, Jefferson nickels, Roosevelt dimes, and Washington quarters. It’s these types of coins that I’m most frequently asked about — as to where the mintmarks appear on these coins. So let’s look at them… and we’ll talk about mint marks for a bit and where you’ll find them on these coins.
On the Lincoln cent… you’ll see here there is no mint mark. Why is that? Well, as you recall my saying the Philadelphia Mint has not placed mint marks on its coins for the majority of its history. And while it does place mint marks on coins today (and has on a continuous basis since 1980), it does not do that with Lincoln cents — with a brief exception in 2017 when it did place a “P” mintmark under the date of the coin. You’ll find that Lincoln pennies that do not have a mintmark are generally struck at the Philadelphia Mint. There is one exception though and that is that there was a time (1965 through 1967) when all US Mints did not place any mintmarks on its coins to help discourage collecting activity during a very severe coin shortage. And there’s also been a little rarer situation. Over the years, there have been occasions when the West Point mint has made coins for circulation. And when it did so, it did not place a mint mark on its coins. Now we’re not talking about today, where there are some 2019 State Quarters or America the Beautiful Quarters that do have “W” mint marks on its coins. But for the vast majority of the West Point mint’s history of circulating coinage, it has not placed mint marks on its coins. But again, that’s a very small fraction of the total number of coins that are in circulation without mint marks. So in most cases when you find a coin without a mint mark, it’s made at the Philadelphia mint. We have here a 1951-S mint Lincoln cent. You’ll see that mark right there below the date. And finally, a 1973 Denver Mint Lincoln Memorial cent with a “D” mint under the date.
For Jefferson nickels… the case has kind of been various over the years until 1965 — which was the start of the moratorium of mint marks (or the brief moratorium I should say rather). The mint marks were found on
the reverse of the coins — and in this case of the nickel, to the right of the Monticello building. Now after the moratorium ended in 1967 and the first mint marks were placed on coins again in 1968, the mint marks moved to the obverse. And in the case of the nickel, it’s found just below the date behind Jefferson’s ponytail — right there on the obverse. With the start of the more modern Jefferson bust, we see here that the date [correction: mintmark] now appears just below the center of the date on the obverse, and to the right of Jefferson’s bust.
With copper nickel clad Roosevelt dimes made since 1965… you’ll find the “P” or “D” mint or in the case of proof coins and special collecting coins (collector coins) “S” and “W” mints just above the date below Roosevelt’s head.
On copper nickel clad Washington quarters… like this one here which has the heraldic Eagle reverse (which was used from 1932 through 1998), the mintmark is found on the obverse of the coin — just to the right of Washington’s ponytail.
And with the State and National Park quarters… you see here the modified obverse with a more modernized and more defined Washington bust. And also the special reverse for each of the states and territories. The mintmark is still found in the obverse to the right of Washington’s bust — but just below the motto ‘In God We Trust’.
And there you can have it! That’s where you’ll find the mint marks on today’s most common circulating coins. This is Josh with The Fun Times Guide. I thank you for taking time to watch this video. Hope you enjoyed it –“like” and “share”. Take care!
