Trivia: Dial "W" for West Point

This is a Trivia post on the "W" Mint Mark and not all of West Point's mintages.
The First Coin to bear the "W" mint mark of West Point is the 1984 Olympic gold Commemorative $10 Coin. The coin was struck in 1983 for the 1984 Olympics.
The last time a $10 Gold Eagle was minted was in 1933 (51 years).

STATISTICS FOR THE 1984 OLYMPICS COMMEMORATIVE $10 GOLD:

Weight: 16.718 grams
Composition: .900 Gold .100 Copper
Diameter: 27mm
Edge: Reeded

Mints and Mintage:

Philadelphia (P) 33,309 Proofs
Denver (D) 34,533 Proofs
San Francisco (S) 48,551 Proofs
West Point (W) 381,085 Proofs - 75,886 Uncirculated

NOTE: West Point was a Silver Bullion Depository when this coin was minted, not a mint. In fact, the citizens of West Point dubbed the depository "The Fort Knox of Silver." It was not designated an official branch of the United States Mint until March 31, 1988.

Coins minted before 1983 by the West Point Mint Facility are 1973 through 1986 Lincoiln Head Cents (no mint mark), 1977 to 1979 Bicentennial Quarters dated 1976 (no mint mark) as well as Washington Quarters of several years (no mint mark).

Here's a photo of the1984 $10 Gold Eagle courtesy of Coin Page:

Note the "W" mint mark below the date.

http://www.coinpage.com/coin-image-2694.html

The first coin with the mint mark "W" struck by the West Point Mint (as a mint) was the1989 (struck in 1988) Congress Bicentennial gold $5. 164,690 Proofs. 46,899 Uncirculated. The "W" mint mark is to the right of the Capital Dome's foundation.

Here's a photo of the gold $5 courtesy of Coin Page:

http://www.coinpage.com/coin-image-2642.html

An unusual coinage from the West Point Mint Fascility occurred in 1996 when a commemorative Roosevelt Dime was produced for the 50th anniversary of the Dime. Given as an insert with the standard mint sets sold that year, 1,457,000, were produced for collectors.

Here's a photo you can click to view an enlargement courtesy of Coast to Coast Coins (www.coastcoin.com):

http://www.coastcoin.com/Itemdesc.asp?ic=107971&eq=&Tp=

The first silver coin to bear the "W" mint mark after West Point became a branch mint in 1988 is the Eisenhower Centennial Silver Dollar bearing thge date 1990. The "W" mint mark is on the obverse below the wird "LIBERTY."

Photo courtesy of Coast to Coast Coins (click photo for enlargement):

http://www.coastcoin.com/Itemdesc.asp?ic=100464&eq=&Tp=

Thought you'd like to know...

Clinker

 

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I never knew that. Thanks for a great trivia post.

 

To TheBigH:

Thanks for your generous positive comment :hug:

Clinker

 

Live & learn, thanks for the insight Clinker ; )

 

Thanks for the post! There is a nice little park in Cold Spring NY on the Hudson River, you can see West Point from there. I am getting ready for bed but I saw the Blue Angels fly over there a few years ago, I did get a picture, I will try and find it and post it tomorrow.

I never knew that West Point minted coins for circulation. I wish they had mint marks. I'd be collecting them for sure. I can't afford gold and I am not a big fan of the ASE so I don't have any coins with my "home" mint mark

 

*clicks nominate this thread*


thanks for the post

I'd love to take and unguided tour of westpoint :whistle:

 

Nice post. Thanks. I'm surprised that PCGS and/or NGC hasn't added a "W" Mint Set to the Registries.

 

To randygeki:

West Point Mint is the only USA mint that doesn't give daily or weekly tours. Every once in a while they give a "Press/Media" tour which includes members of Congess and New York State politicians. The facility also stores $20,000.000.00 in gold (2nd only to Ft. Knox).

Clinker

 

To pappy-o:

A double "Thank you" for reading and tendering your comment...

Clinker

 

To Billy Kingsley:

Thanks for reading and commenting. Look forward to seeing your pics...

Clinker

 

To Art:

Since there's money to be made in a "W" registry, you can bet they are trying to figure out a way to do it and collect...:whistle:

Clinker

 

Wow, great information Clinker as always. I know that some Lincoln cents had been minted at West Point without a mint mark...but the quarters were a surprise to me. I had not idea that Bicentennial quarters were still being made as late as 1979. Why was a decision made to continue minting them after 1976?

 

The minting started in 1975. The other years were due to a congressional mandate to produce a sufficient quantity for circulation. It was suspect that many of the commemorative quarters would be kept by collector and non collector alike (which turned out to be fact).

Clinker

 

Is the San Francisco mint still giving tours? Proof coin production would be a grand sight to see in person.

 

To TheBigH:

I don't know for sure, but I believe they restarted the tours recently. Maybe another Coin Talk member knows. Iwill find out, if no one else answers your question.

Clinker

 

Neither San Francisco nor West Point give tours

West Point struck 376,000 bicentennial quarters in 1976. The quarters struck in 77, 78, and 79 were dated with those years, not bicentennials.

 

As always, a good read Clinker. The first West Point issue that I ever bought was the 1986 Statue of Liberty Half Eagle.

 

To green18:

Thanks, once again, for the positive comment and an extra "Thank you" for sharing your ownership of the 1986 Statue of Liberty Gold Half Eagle...

To Condor101:

Thanks for reading and answering the question on San Francico Mint tours and your noting the dates on the '77, '78 and '79 quarters...

Clinker

 

Unfortunatly I cannot find the photo I took. I am sure I have it on my website somewhere but I have over 90,000 photos on there and sometimes finding just one can be a bit of a chore. I shall keep looking!

 

I guess that makes sense. I knew they began minting them in 1975...as there are no 1975 coins quarter or larger...but I didn't realize they minted them beyond 1976 while regular annual coins were minted at the other mints.

Did they also mint Bicentennial halves and dollars beyond 1975-76?