Keep in mind that the mintmark was hand-punched into the die until about 1990. The hand-punched mintmarks had a tendency to be all over the place. If you want to see how much the position varied, take a look at the Kennedy halves from the '70's & '80's. After that, it was incorporated into the hub which made the placement more consistent. Chris
Look at a penny with a D mintmark. Picture the D as the letter S. "S" mintmarks are on proof coins, not circulation coins.
Too many to list. Check your Wheat Ear pennies. 1909-S and 1909-S VBD, are semi key and key dates, made for circulation. I think it was somewhere in the 1950's when they stopped using the S on circulation coins.
You're trying to hard and that makes you see things that aren't there. They will look exactly like the example photos others have shown you. Don't despair! You need to spend more time looking at examples instead of spending hours staring at one coin. Research the minting process and you will learn what is and isn't possible.
You know what, you are right. Thank you all. i just cant stop its starting to be a problem i know, because i am starting to piss myself off. All of you have been great to me no matter if there bad, good jokes or just mad and making you feel grumpy i sorry and i thank you all for your help.
From 1968-1974, S-mint cents were issued for circulation. S-mint nickels were only issued for circulation from 1968 until 1970; from 1971 onward, S-mint nickels were only issued as proofs. Oddly, S-mint Susan B. Anthony dollars were also issued for circulation from 1979 to 1981. I've never figured that one out, but I guess there's not much about the SBA episode that did make sense.
I should have clarified that I was only referring to Lincoln's. Thanks for expanding to include all coins.
