what does this symbol mean?

US mint marks

The small letters on a US coin that say which mint struck it, and the designers’ initials found on some coins.

A mint mark is the small letter on a US coin that says which mint struck it. The US Mint lists four in use today: P for Philadelphia, D for Denver, S for San Francisco and W for West Point. Circulating coins are typically made in Philadelphia or Denver; San Francisco and West Point mainly make proof, commemorative and bullion coins.

Mint marks 8 symbols

Designers’ initials 4 symbols

Mints that have closed

Mint marks first appeared in 1838, when branches opened in Charlotte, Dahlonega and New Orleans. Charlotte’s C and Dahlonega’s D ran from 1838 to 1861, on gold coins only. New Orleans’ O ran from 1838 to 1861 and again from 1879 to 1909. Carson City’s CC, on gold and silver from the Comstock Lode, ran from 1870 to 1893. Denver’s D dates from 1906, so a D on a gold coin dated before 1862 is Dahlonega’s.

Coins with no mint mark

Philadelphia’s coins traditionally carried no mark. Its P appeared first in 1942, on wartime nickels, was dropped after the war, and returned with the 1979 Susan B. Anthony dollar; from 1980 it has been on every denomination except the cent, which had one only in 2017. Other coins have no mint mark for other reasons. The Coinage Act of 1965 banned mint marks to discourage collecting during a coin shortage, so circulating coins dated 1965 to 1967 have none. West Point struck cents without a W until 1986, PCGS says, and San Francisco struck unmarked cents in the 1970s and 1980s so that they couldn’t be told from Philadelphia’s.

Where the mark sits

Before 1965 each series had its own place for the mark: below the date on wheat cents, to the right of Monticello on Jefferson nickels, at the left of the torch’s base on silver Roosevelt dimes, above the ER of QUARTER on Washington quarters, and above the DO of DOLLAR on Morgan dollars. When mint marks returned in 1968, Mint Director Eva Adams put them all on the obverse: to the right of the portrait on the cent, nickel, dime and quarter, and under Kennedy’s portrait on the half dollar.

Initials that aren’t mint marks

VDB, JS, FG and JF are designers’ initials: Victor David Brenner’s on the Lincoln cent, John R. Sinnock’s on the Roosevelt dime, Frank Gasparro’s on the cent’s Lincoln Memorial reverse and John Flanagan’s on the Washington quarter.

Sources

  1. Mint Marks, United States Mint, Modern Mint Marks; history; Historic Mint Marks; Modern Mint Marks; Historic Mint Marks
  2. Mint Releases First Ever W Quarters Into Circulation, United States Mint, Inside the Mint, 2019
  3. Why the Charlotte and Dahlonega Mints Were Built – Part 4, CoinWeek
  4. Mint Marks Restored to Coins, U.S. Mint press release, 1968, United States Mint, Press release
  5. What Was the First W-Mint Coin?, Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS)
  6. Lincoln Wheat Cent (1909-1958), CoinWeek, Design
  7. Jefferson Nickel, 1938-2003 : A Collector’s Guide, CoinWeek, Design
  8. Roosevelt Dime, Silver (1946-1964), CoinWeek, Design
  9. Washington Quarter, Clad (1965-1998) : History and Value, CoinWeek, Design
  10. Morgan Dollar, 1878-1921 : A Collector’s Guide, CoinWeek, Design
  11. Penny, US Mint, Learn: circulating coins, United States Mint, History
  12. What’s The “JS” on the Roosevelt Dime Mean?, Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS)
  13. Where’s The VDB On Lincoln Cents of the 1910s?, Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS)

Last reviewed September 29, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research