YOUR GUIDE TO MINT MARKS

Now that you have your first coin for your collection, we can start learning more about it.

Use your magnifying glass to examine the obverse side of the coin. The obverse side is the "Heads" side of the coin. The "Tails" side is called the reverse.

Look at the space below the date. What do you see?

Here is the 1983 Penny we found yesterday.

Looking below the date, we see a capital letter "D". This is what we call a mint mark. 

A mint mark is a letter or symbol used to indicate the mint where the coin was made, and a mint is a facility that presses, or strikes, the designs onto the coins.

Here are the common mint marks you will see on our Birth-Year Pennies:

In the lower example, you will see a capital "S". This mint mark indicates that this coin was struck at the mint in San Francisco, California.

The center example shows a capital "D", indicating that this coin was struck at the Denver mint in  Colorado.

But, what about the top example? There is no mint mark, right? So, where was it struck?
The answer is a little long, but in short, this coin was made at the Philadelphia mint in Pennsylvania.

The mint in Philadelphia is also the United State's main coin production facility. As such, the Philadelphia mint has never produced any coins with a mint mark, because they were the only mint operating at the time. However, when coin demands began to grow, other mints were built and mint marks were then used for each of the other facilities. That is, until 1942.

During this time, the Philadelphia mint began producing silver alloy nickels to save the nickel metal for the war effort, during World War II. We will talk more about these "war nickels" in a later post. For now, let's stick to our Lincoln Cents.

As of 2016, it has been understood that if the area below the date on Lincoln Cents is left blank, that coin was produced at the Philadelphia mint. But, there is some exciting news!

The Philadelphia mint has been quietly striking the Lincoln Cents for 2017 with a capital "P" mintmark. What does that mean for us? More coin roll hunting, of course! So, be sure to keep your eye out for those shiny, new 2017 pennies, and be sure to check the mint marks.

Be sure to keep growing your numismatic knowledge with these great books!
1) A Guide Book of United States Coins: The Official Red Book
2) A Treatise on the Coinage of the United States Branch Mints

Happy Hunting!