No mint mark

How to read it

The US Mint says most circulating coins carry a P, a D or no mint mark, and that no mint mark signifies Philadelphia. Philadelphia’s coins went unmarked from the opening of the first branch mints in 1838 until the P appeared, briefly in 1942 and for good on most coins from 1979 and 1980. Its cents are still unmarked, except in 2017. A blank space can also mean something else. The Coinage Act of 1965 banned mint marks, so none appear on circulating coins dated 1965 to 1967. San Francisco and West Point have both struck coins without a mark so that they could not be told from Philadelphia’s. And a few coins that should carry a mark were struck without one.

Also searched as: 1982 no P dime, coin without mint mark, no letter on coin.

Coins dated 1965 to 1967

The Coinage Act of 1965 said no mint mark could be put on any coin for five years from its enactment, except that coins the Denver mint was already authorised to strike could keep its mark. The Mint says the aim was to discourage collecting while it caught up with the demand for coins, and that no mint marks appeared on circulating coins from 1965 to 1967. Congress repealed the ban in 1967. The Mint showed its first marked coins, the 1968 issue, at the Denver Mint, and Mint Director Eva Adams moved every mark to the obverse. The 1965 quarter is one of the unmarked coins.

Coins struck elsewhere without a mark

- San Francisco struck circulating cents in the 1970s and 1980s without mint marks, so that they could not be distinguished from Philadelphia’s (US Mint). - West Point struck cents without a mark: from 1973 to 1986 on the Mint’s own timeline, from 1974 to 1986 in PCGS’s account. It also struck Bicentennial quarters in 1976, and PCGS says quarters without a mint mark from 1977 to 1979. The Mint says West Point’s quarters before 2019 “didn’t have a mint mark and were indistinguishable from Philadelphia quarters”. - Philadelphia’s 2021 Peace dollar and West Point’s 2026 Morgan and Peace dollars carry no mint mark. CoinWeek reports that the Mint’s specifications say “No Mint Mark” while PCGS lists them under W.

Coins that lost their mark

A few coins were struck without the mark they should have. CoinWeek lists the 1982 Philadelphia dime with no P and the 1968, 1970 and 1983 proof dimes with no S; the American Numismatic Association’s newsletter adds 1975 to the proof dimes. PCGS lists a 1990 proof cent with no mint mark.

Where the mint mark would be

The first six rows are CoinWeek’s series guides; the last two are the Mint’s 1968 rule. CoinWeek gives the mark on later Roosevelt dimes as above the last digit of the date, and on Jefferson nickels from 1968 as after the last digit of the date.