{"id":406,"date":"2020-05-07T14:48:36","date_gmt":"2020-05-07T18:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thepatrioticmint.com\/blog\/?p=406"},"modified":"2020-05-07T14:48:36","modified_gmt":"2020-05-07T18:48:36","slug":"explaining-mint-marks-what-do-they-mean-and-why-they-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepatrioticmint.com\/blog\/explaining-mint-marks-what-do-they-mean-and-why-they-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"Explaining Mint Marks – What Do They Mean and Why They Matter"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

A Mint mark is a small letter that designates where a coin was made. Mint marks have been used for thousands of years. Ancient Greeks and Romans used them on coins starting around the 3rd Century.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What was the original purpose of a mint mark?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Essentially, a mint mark was added to the coin to hold that Mint accountable for the quality, size, and weight of a coin. If a problem was found on a series of coins (for example, if the coins were found to be underweight), they could be traced back to the mint where they were made and hold those officials responsible.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Branches of the US Mint<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In 1792, the United States Congress passed the Coinage Act, establishing the first national mint in the United States. The first mint branch was established in Philadelphia. Philadelphia was chosen as the first site because it was actually the site of the nation\u2019s capital for a brief period, from 1790-1800 while Washington DC was being built.\u00a0Since there was only one branch of the Mint, it was not necessary to use a mintmark. This practice of no mint mark continued on all coins minted in Philadelphia, with only one notable exception, (keep reading for more on this) until 1979. In 1979, the \u201cP\u201d mintmark appeared on the new Susan B. Anthony Dollar. A year later, the P Mint mark began to appear on all almost all coin denominations except for the penny.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Of course, there\u2019s always an exception \u2013 in 2017, for the 225th<\/sup> Anniversary of the U.S. Mint, a P Mint mark appeared on the penny. The Mint did not announce it was making this exception, they just quietly released the coins into circulation. They were probably waiting to see if collectors would even notice \u2013 and they did. In 2018, the P Mint mark once again disappeared from the penny.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In the early 1800s, America experienced its first two gold rushes in North Carolina and Georgia. The Philadelphia Mint was strained to its limits to melt, refine, and produce coins from this gold. In 1835, Congress passed legislation to establish three new Mint branches: in Charlotte, NC; Dahlonega, GA; and New Orleans, LA.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Charlotte and Dahlonega produced gold coins exclusively, with the mint marks \u201cC\u201d and \u201cD\u201d, while New Orleans produced both gold and silver coins with the mint mark \u201cO\u201d. At the start of the Civil War, the Confederates took over these three mints and sporadically produced their own coins. In 1862, the U.S. regained control of these Mints, but the Dahlonega Mint in Georgia never re-opened.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In 1849, when Gold was discovered in California, a Mint branch was opened in San Francisco to convert the miners\u2019 gold into coins. These coins bore the \u201cS\u201d Mint.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In 1862, Congress approved yet another Mint branch in Denver. A year later, the Denver branch opened as an assay office for miners to bring gold to be melted, assayed, and cast into bars. It did not mint any US coins until 1906. Coins produced at the Denver Mint, like these Denver Mint Peace Dollars<\/a>, bore the \u201cD\u201d mintmark.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Denver Mint Peace Dollars<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The country\u2019s largest-ever silver ore discovery, the Comstock Lode, began in Nevada in 1859. Once again, Congress authorized a Mint branch in nearby Carson City, Nevada, which opened in 1870. As the silver ore in the Comstock Mine decreased, the \u201cCC\u201d mintmark disappeared when the last coin was struck in 1893.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Legacy of the Comstock Lode<\/p><\/div>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The West Point Mint is located near the U.S. Military Academy in New York State; it became an official branch of the U.S. Mint in 1988. Prior to that, it produced the 1984 $10 Gold Olympics Commemorative coin, and the \u201cW\u201d appeared on the obverse of the coin, under the date.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In 1996, the U.S. Mint issued a special commemorative coin to mark the 50th anniversary of the Roosevelt Dime. The coin was a limited-edition Roosevelt Dime that was struck in Brilliant Uncirculated condition at the West Point Mint. It was included only in the official 1996 Mint Set from the U.S. Mint and none of the special 50th-anniversary coins were released into circulation. This was the first regular-issue U.S. coin to feature the \u201cW\u201d mint mark of the West Point Mint. In 1997, the West Point Mint struck the first American Eagle Platinum Bullion coins.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

So there you have it, all eight locations of U.S. Mint branches:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n