Coins minted in the USA currently come from two circulation mints and two non-circulation (i.e. proofs) mints. The coins are marked with a mint mark that corresponds to the mint. These are:
- P for Philidelphia (circulation)
- D for Denver (circulation, from 1906)
- S for San Francisco (recently non-circulation but they did mint circulation coins historically)
- W for West Point (non-circulation, from 1984)
Philadelphia is one to watch out for as only coins minted after 1979 (except for the silver war nickles of 1942-1945) will show a P mintmark. Prior to this date, no mint mark is present, war nickles excepted.
Historically there were more mints with appropriate marks:
- C for Charlotte
- CC for Carson City
- D for Dahlonega (Gold coins 1838-1861)
- O for New Orleans
It is worth noting that the positioning of the mint mark does vary from denomination and design of that denomination. The images above are just a selection of coins I have in my collection. For further reading, I would suggest the Red Book (A Guide Book Of United States Coins) as this contains images and descriptions on where to find mint marks on the various coins. The PCGS price guide contains detailed images of coins which will also show the mint mark, where present.
