Hi Pls let me know - Lincoln cents without mint marks - are they genuine ? I am trying to collect these for all the years from 1909 (read on the net that these were started from 1909 onwards). Regards Thomas
lincoln cents 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
If this is what you really want to do, then yes keep the ones with no MM's and they are from the Philadelphia Mint as stated above. You can buy Whitman or H. E. Harris Lincoln cent folders and just fill in the spots with no MM's. I bet you'll find it much more fun collecting cents with D, and S MM's too. Much enjoyment to you.
lincoln cents are my specialty as well and i personally find it more fullfilling to collect all mintmark varieties... but if its more fun for you to collect cents from philidelphia then by all means, do that. Also, if your collecting from circulation it may be easier to simply do a memorial reverse set from 1959 on, setting wheats aside for later as you find them...aditionally if your a fanatical completest as i am youll also want to try to get the major varieties (such as small and large date 82s and the like). Also in response to your question; a 61 with no MM is rarer then a 61 D...although niether are uncommon...so just keep the coin that speaks to you.
just by a budgood bag ull get all the lincolns in there no need t break your head i didnt have more than 4 lincolns now i have the completel collection without the svdb of course
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.
Also not quite true. Those were CENTS, not PENNIES. And it is amazing how many people really get all upset when you call them PENNIES. Oh the real reason the one from Phily don't have a P on them is that Mint didn't want to us a stamp with P on it.
They were, but West Point has not made circulation coins since 1986. San Francisco also struck cents without mintmarks for circulation from 1978 to 1983.
