United States Mints
| Conordon
Do you know how coins are made? First a strip of metal is used to make the blanks. The leftover metal is used to make another strip of metal. The blanks are heated so they are soft and easy to make designs in it. After that They are cleaned. Then the rims are made on the blanks and then they go into the die. The die punches the design into the coin. Finally the coins are checked and any errors are removed. Some errors make it through and go into circulation. Some error coins are worth a lot of money. Proof coins are made in a different way. Proof coins polished and struck multiple times to make them look perfect. Then they are checked and put into airtight packages and are sold to collectors. Coins are made in many different places called mints. Each mint puts a small letter called a mint mark. Mint marks show where the coins are made. There are currently 4 mints. are in Philadelphia, Denver, West Point, and San Francisco. Their mint marks are P, D, W, and S. There are also 4 former mints. They were in Carson City, New Orleans, Charlotte, and Dahlonega. Their mint marks are CC, O, C, and D. The oldest mint is Philadelphia. It has made coins since 1793. The newest is West Point it has made coins since 1984. Cents made in Philadelphia and in West Point have no mint mark. Also before 1979 Philadelphia had no mint marks except on wartime silver nickels. Some proof coins without mint marks are worth thousands of dollars. Thank you for reading this. I hope you enjoyed reading about mints, how coins are made, and mint marks.
Comments
Kepi
Level 6
Great research! I would love to go to the Carson City Mint... (Museum) ; )
silvar eagle
Level 3
thanks for sharing
coinsbygary
Level 5
Nice job and good information. There is still another mint that was operated and built by the United States. However, that mint only minted coins for use in the Philippines. It was built in Manila and it has an "M" for a mintmark. It minted coins from 1920-1922 and again from 1925-1941 when the Japanese invaded the Philippines. The mint burned to the ground at the retaking of the Philippines in 1945. The Philippines was granted its independence on July 4, 1946 .
It's Mokie
Level 6
Carson City just had the 150th anniversary of their first coin, I wish they would go back into operation, maybe just for proofs and/or commemoratives. Thanks for your blog, always welcome a new voice.
Longstrider
Level 6
Nice blog. Looks like you did your research. A little hint, put up your source list. It makes it easier fr anyone to do further study. Good job. Thanks.
Mike
Level 7
Good blog!. There are a few steps missing . Making a COIN is different in many ways with different coins. They wish it was that easy as the blog. Good work keep it coming.
Golfer
Level 5
Philadelphia mint has been around for a long time. Wonder if its the same location, and if some of the original things are still there? Thanks for the information.