Anatomy of a Coin | U.S. Mint (2024)

FAQs

What is the anatomy of a coin? ›

Coin designs take into account all the parts of a coin. We use special terms to describe these parts. Obverse (heads) is the front of the coin and the reverse (tails) is the back. Edge is the outer surface, which can have lettering, reeding, or be plain.

Branch mint coins have the following mintmarks: Charlotte (C), Carson City (CC), Dahlonega (D), Denver (D), New Orleans (O), San Francisco (S) and West Point (W).

The current mint marks on United States coinage are P, D, S, and W for the 4 currently operating US Mints. The letter P is used for the Philadelphia Mint, D for the Denver Mint, S for the San Francisco Mint, and W for the West Point Mint.

Coin Making

Round discs called blanks are punched out from the metal sheet. The blanks are heated to make them softer and then washed. They pass through a machine that squeezes them, forcing the sides up to form a rim. The coin press uses the die to stamp the blanks with the coin design.

A small letter or symbol on a coin used to identify where a coin was made. Current U.S. mint marks are P (Philadelphia), D (Denver), S (San Francisco), and W (West Point).

'Heads' refers to the side of the coin that features a portrait, or head, while 'Tails' refers to the opposite side. This is not because it features any form of tail, but because it is the opposite of heads.

The letter “D” on a penny, you speak of, is commonly referred to as a “mint mark”. However, the mint mark with the letter “D”, stamped under the date of a penny, stands for the city in which the mint is located in. In this case, the letter “D” stands for Denver, Colorado.

With a mintage of about 7 million, these pennies in their intended form aren't scarce, but a small percentage of these coins show no trace of a D mint mark. 1922 pennies without the D mint mark are plain cents or plain pennies. An uncirculated 1922 plain penny with a high grade can be worth $12,000 or more.

What Are Coins With No Mint Marks? Not all coins have mint marks. For many years, Philadelphia minted millions of coins without their (P) mint mark simply because they were the only Mint in production, and there was no need to verify the location where the coin was struck.

However, this coin's rarity stems from its origin at the San Francisco Mint, as indicated by the "S" mint mark. With a mintage of just 396,000 coins, the 1927-S Standing Liberty Quarter is considered one of the rarest and most valuable US quarters in the series, appealing to collectors and investors alike.

Why is the 1983 penny so valuable? ›

In the 1983 cent, the doubling effect is usually visible on the lettering. The stronger and more visible the doubling is, the more valuable coins will be. Believe it or not, the maximal price for one red MS 68 DDR penny is $7,050.

1944 cents were struck in large numbers and are still common among collectors. Also, there's no polite way to put this: answers saying they're rare, that the lack of a mint mark is unusual, etc. are INCORRECT. The lack of a mint mark simply means your cents were struck by the Philadelphia Mint.

A brief look at the history of private mints in America.

Since 1864, the private coining of money has been illegal, and since colonial days, we have had legal-tender laws designed to force the acceptance of coins and bills minted by the government.

Quick Reference. A place where money is coined, especially under state authority. Recorded from Old English (in form mynet 'coin', and of West Germanic origin) the word is related to Dutch munt and German Münze, from Latin moneta 'money'.

The mint marks represent where the coins were minted or produced. The mint mark is usually located just beneath the year. Please see below some of the examples. Kolkata/Calcutta mint was the first mint established in India in 1757.

Mint conducted a limited design competition for the new dollar, inviting 23 artists to submit designs portraying Sacagawea on the obverse ("heads") side and an American bald eagle on the reverse ("tails") side.

Today's coins are made from metals such as nickel, copper, and zinc. Instead of using one metal to make a coin, multiple kinds of metal are pressed together into layers. This is called a “clad” coin.

The process begun in 1909 was complete in 1964, when American Presidents were featured on every regular issue circulating coin; Abraham Lincoln on the cent, Thomas Jefferson on the nickel, Franklin Roosevelt on the dime, George Washington on the quarter-dollar and John F. Kennedy on the half-dollar.

Most coins do have three sides. The obverse (Heads), the reverse (Tails), and the edge or rim as it sometimes called.