Quote:
Originally Posted by tholath Hi
Thanks for the feedback.
I am trying to make a set - from 1909 onwards.
Have got coins for about 30 years as of now - the earliest being of 1961.
For some of the years - eg.1961 - there are two coins - one with mint mark "D" and one without any mint mark.
Was wondering which one to keep in the set.
Regards
Thomas |
Thomas,
If a Lincoln cent has no mint mark it was almost certainly made in Philadelphia. The reason is, the US Mint is located in Philadelphia, San Francisco and Denver are Branch Mints, hence the mint marks.
A "D" under the date means the coin was minted at the branch mint in Denver Colorado.
A "S" under the date means the coin was minted at the branch mint in San Francisco, California.
After 1955 the only Lincolns minted in San Francisco were proofs.
There are two exceptions to this rule, in 1922 no cents were struck in Philadelphia, however a small number exist without a mint mark, these are Denver cents where the mint mark was polished off of the dies, these are very valuable coins. Also the mint in West Point, New York (Which normally coins gold and silver bullion coins and commemoratives) made quite a few under contract for the Philadelphia mint in recent years. The West Point cents are indistinguishable from Philadelphia cents.