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Mint Marks-What Are They

Ever wonder what those little letters were on your coins.  Many coins values are based on those little letters called Mint Marks. These letters indicate the place where your coin was produced.

If you are a beginner just learning like me just understanding what those letters mean is another notch in your coin information. So, the list below will hopefully help.

Here are the letters that are used on coins made in the United States to show where the coin was minted. I have also include the date range that coins were produced at that location.

W- West Point, New York(1984 to date)

C-Charlotte, North Carolina (1838-1861) Note: Only gold coins were minted here

D-Dahlonega, Georgia(1838-1861) Note: Only gold coins were minted here

D-Dencer(1906 to date)

O-New Orleans (1838-1909)

S-San Francisco (1854 to date)

CC-Carson City, Nevada (1870-1893) 

P-Philadelphia (1979 to date)

  Note: Many coins were made in Philadelphia but do not have the mint mark. The very fact that the mark was absent indicated that it was made in Philadelphia.  The mark was not added until 1979. No P has been used on Lincoln cents.

A wee bit of history. In 1942-1945 the- P-mint mark was used on nickels to show that they had a different metal combination that did not include nickel. This can be seen on the “tails” side which is referred to as the REVERSE of the coin.

 Is this helpful? Anything you want to add?

Tags: Mint Marks, what are mink marks