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365:. Over time there have been 9 official United States Mints. The first US Mint was in Philadelphia which began coin production with large cents and the half cents of pure copper in early 1793. Other US Mints, prior to the twentieth century, were considered "branch mints". United States mint marks were originally used to distinguish coins not made in Philadelphia. The 8 mint marks used to distinguish coins not minted in Philadelphia (in the chronological order of their first coinage) are: D for the
397:. The West Point Mint began coin production on July 29, 1974 to ease the shortage of quarters and other minor coinage and bore no mint mark. Thus West Point coins could not be distinguished from those made at the Philadelphia Mint. The West Point mint mark, "W", was first used on the $ 10 gold coins commemorating the 1984 Olympic games in Los Angeles. Most Philadelphia Mint coins from earlier than 1980 were unmarked with the notable exceptions being wartime nickels (1942-1945), and
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respective mint marks to address circulating coinage needs without the concern of creating scarce varieties that would be plucked from circulation by collectors. In the single year of 2017 the
Philadelphia "P" was added to the Lincoln cent to celebrate 225 years of Philadelphia Mint service. Generally 21st century coins with an "S" or "W" do not circulate, being mostly produced as
114:, which is the traditional dividing point between the coinage of the Roman and the Later Roman (a.k.a. Byzantine) empires, replaced the mint marks on gold coins by the inscription CONOB, meaning the pure standard of Constantinople, which was used by a variety of mints. Mint marks continued on copper coinage until the second half of the seventh century, however.
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1848, it used stars with different numbers of points as mint marks. Madrid used six pointed stars, Barcelona used eight pointed stars, and so on. After the revolution of 1868, small dates were placed in these stars. The small dates indicated the year the coin was struck, as opposed to the large date on the coin which was the year it was authorized.
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coins in the belief that it would reduce the removal of coins from circulation by collectors. The silver coins quickly disappeared from circulation, and it was feared that if collectors saved too many of the new coins, there would be a serious shortage of coinage. Mint marks were returned to United
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The
Spanish Empire introduced mint marks to the New World when they authorized Mexico City to open a mint on 11 May 1535. The Spanish Empire established mints throughout its American territories, each with their own mint mark. After its revolution, Mexico continued to use its colonial Mo monogram
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adopted a system called Secret Points. This scheme placed a dot under the first letter of the legend on coins of Crémieu, under the second letter for Romans, up to the twenty-second letter for
Bourges. In the fifteenth century letters or symbols placed at the end of the legend indicating the mint
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Although the US and several other countries use the initial letter of the city for its mint marks, this practice is not universal. For instance, Germany used A for Berlin, D for Munich, E for
Muldenhutten, F for Stuttgart, G for Karlsruhe and J for Hamburg. When Spain adopted decimal coinage in
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made mint marks a regular feature of ancient Roman coinage. These mint marks were placed at the bottom of the reverse of the coin and contained three parts. The first part indicates that this was a coin with either SM for Sacra Moneta, M for Moneta, or P for
Pecurnia. The second part was an
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was the only coin that did not always have a mint mark, using a "D" when struck in Denver but lacking a "P" when ostensibly struck at the
Philadelphia mint. This practice allowed the additional minting of coins at the San Francisco mint ("S") and West Point mint ("W") without the use of their
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and put its first mint marks on the gold coins struck there. Like other countries, the United States has since placed mint marks not only on its own coins but also those of its territories, such as the
Philippines, and other countries for which it has contracts to strike coins, such as Fiji.
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or other "collector coinage" sold by the US Mint to either authorized bullion wholesalers or directly to collectors. There was also an exception, the 2019-W quarter made for circulation. Only 2 million were made for each design. The West Point Mint continues to make W quarters intended for
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Mint marks were first developed to locate a problem. If a coin was underweight, or overweight, the mint mark would immediately tell where the coin was minted, and the problem could be located and fixed. Another problem which could occur would be a dishonest mint official
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privy mark. Segovia, Spain used an aqueduct, a local landmark, before it switched over to the star system in 1868. The private mint of the French
Coinage Society Poissy Branch used a thunderbolt mint mark on coins of France, its colonies, Romania and other countries.
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discontinued Secret Points in favor of a system of letters; A for Paris, B for Rouen, …, Z for Lyon; in the field. He also made it the rule for mint-masters to place their personal marks on coins, as they had done with increasing frequency since the coinage of
150:. This was one of the few royal practices continued by the Republic of France. The mint letters continued until 1898 (briefly revived in 1914 and from 1942 to 1958) and the mint-masters marks, supplemented by the mark of the Chief Engraver, are still used.
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obtained a contract to strike royal copper coins with steam presses and put its name on these coins and on coins it minted for other countries. When it closed, Ralph Heaton acquired its equipment, founded the
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in charge of producing that coin. Debasing a coin, or otherwise tampering with it, was a very serious crime, often punishable by death in many civilizations. For example, in 1649, the directors of the
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near the sources of gold. These issues show the initials of Sydney, Melbourne, Victoria, and Perth
Australia as well as Canada, South Africa, and India. The privately owned
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retired hammered coinage, branch mints which helped strike machine made coins to replace it put their initials below his bust. The Royal Mint established branches to coin
454:(left) and mint mark on a Dutch coin. The mint mark is that of the mint of Utrecht. Since 1830 (with an interruption in 1941–1945) this mark is pressed on all Dutch coins.
203:(coin collectors) did not generally collect coins according to mint mark; rather, they attempted to obtain date sets of coins. A turnaround began after 1893, when
207:'s "A Treatise on Coinage of the United States Branch Mints" was published. Heaton cited example after example of mint-marked coins that were much scarcer than
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but marked with a local symbol. For example, Rhodes struck coins with
Alexander's types marked with a rose, a local symbol previously used on its own coins.
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coins bear an inscription telling which mint produced the coin. This inscription is often the name of the city where the coin was minted spelled out in
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abbreviation of the name of the mint such as ROM for Rome or LON for London. The final part indicated the workshop within the mint. The reform of
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In some cases the symbols found in the field of ancient Greek coins indicated mints, not magistrates. Mints in territories conquered by
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393:(July 15, 1920) (where an official US Mint began with the coinage of a one centavo coin on July 15, 1920) and lastly a W for the
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circulation. This is called "The Great American Coin Hunt". The S mintmark were also used for circulated coins until 1980.
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186:. The United States of America established mints in Charlotte, North Carolina and Dahlonega, Georgia in 1838 after the
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401:(1979-1999). The P mint mark was first used on the Susan B. Anthony Dollars starting 1979. From 1980 until 2017, the
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Standard Catalog of World Coins, C. Krause and C Michler, Spain, France, French Indo-China and Romania
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1872 "Liberty Seated" silver dollar reverse, bearing the mint's CC mint mark just beneath the eagle.
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in the coin than specified. The first mint marks, called "Magistrate Marks" were developed by the
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are P, D, S, and W for the 4 currently operating US Mints. The letter P is used for the
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as well as the mint mark were immediate identifiers when the coins were inspected.
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Mint names began to appear on French coins under Pepin and became mandatory under
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638:"It's really true: Cents struck at Philadelphia Mint in 2017 bear P Mint mark"
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Greek Coins and Their Values, H. A. Seaby, Kings of Macedon coin 539
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Historic Gold Coins of the World, Burton Hobson, pages 129 and 132
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Standard Catalog of World Coins, C. Krause and C Michler, Spain
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where the coin was produced. It should not be confused with a
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The Silver Coins of Medieval France, James Roberts, page 204
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The Silver Coins of Medieval France, James Roberts, page 203
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The Silver Coins of Medieval France, James Roberts, page 202
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products and that should bring high premiums. When the
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Standard Catalog of World Coins by Krause Publications
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coinage in 1964, mint marks were removed from the new
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Historia Numorum, Barcay Head, introduction page lix
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Some Medieval English coins used mint names . When
182:mint mark shown on either side of the date in the
141:were used in addition to Secret Points. In 1540,
627:A Guide Book of United States Coins, R. S. Yeoman
177:Spanish Milled Dollar with Mexico City Mint Mark.
667:The Coin Atlas, Crib, Cook, and Carradice, p. 58
528:Roman Coins and Their Values, David Sear page 47
473:have mint marks of their respective Mint. See
435:, which is a symbol unique to each mint. The
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34:is a letter, symbol or an inscription on a
609:Coins in History, John Porteous, page 214
582:Coins in History, John Porteous, page 164
322:Learn how and when to remove this message
600:Coins in History, John Porteous, page 68
546:Coins in History, John Porteous, page 54
537:Byzantine Coins, P. D. Whiting, page 60
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431:Many mints of the world commonly use a
98:struck coins with the types he used in
690:Mint marks on British gold Sovereigns
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260:adding citations to reliable sources
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123:French Cochinchina 20 Cents 1879
475:Identifying marks on euro coins
247:needs additional citations for
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121:Mint mark and privy marks on
381:(April 3, 1854), CC for the
373:(March 27, 1838), O for the
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345:The current mint marks on
79:colonial American Mint at
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389:(March 12, 1906), M for
377:(May 8, 1838), S for the
195:Mint marks in numismatics
46:which is the mark of the
399:Susan B. Anthony dollars
228:United States Mint Marks
705:Numismatic terminology
477:for more information.
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199:In the 19th century,
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710:Inscriptions by type
256:improve this article
715:Production of coins
437:Royal Canadian Mint
96:Alexander the Great
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254:Please help
249:verification
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209:Philadelphia
205:A. G. Heaton
201:numismatists
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136:. In 1389,
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105:A reform of
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391:Manila Mint
387:Denver Mint
355:Denver Mint
271:"Mint mark"
155:William III
134:Charlemagne
699:Categories
498:References
492:Privy mark
471:euro coins
452:Privy mark
441:maple leaf
433:Privy mark
282:newspapers
215:abandoned
159:sovereigns
138:Charles IV
127:Paris Mint
112:Anastasius
107:Diocletian
73:Magistrate
48:mintmaster
163:Soho Mint
143:Francis I
32:mint mark
487:Hallmark
481:See also
469:Several
466:script.
148:Louis XI
61:debasing
18:Mintmark
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