Based on the questions I see in the comments, a set of people have coins with no mintmark … or missing letters and numerals. rightfully, these collectors wonder if their coins are errors — and if they are, what they ’ ra worth.
Determining whether a mint with no mintmark or early missing details is an error coin or not depends on evaluating the individual mint. For example, some coins with no mintmark are indeed errors — while most others were never supposed to have a mintmark in the foremost position. similarly, there are many coins that have missing letters. In some cases, these are erroneousness coins — but sometimes it ’ mho just a position where the inscription was rubbed off by person outside the mint, or it ’ mho just a normal coin with big wear.
Hopefully, with the information in this article you’ll be able to more confidently determine if your coin with no mintmark or missing letters is:
- A normal coin
- An error coin
- A damaged coin
- Or something else entirely
Start here if your coin doesn’t have a mintmark…
There are some identical rare no mintmark error coins that are besides extremely valuable. These are some of the most famous no-mintmark coins, along with their approximate value: Some think that any coins without mintmarks are error coins. however, most coins with no mintmark are actually from the Philadelphia Mint. The Philly Mint historically did not place mintmarks on its coins. besides, from 1965 through 1967, no coins were given mintmarks at any U.S. Mint facility. This was done by the United States Mint to discourage collecting when there was a severe national mint dearth. In the 1970s and ’ 80s, the West Point Mint struck pennies and quarters to help supplement production from the Philadelphia Mint. however, none of those coins made at the West Point Mint contain the “W” mintmark. consequently, they are identical from coins made at the Philadelphia Mint.
A List Of Coins That Actually Don’t Have Mintmarks
The follow is a number of coins that are not supposed to contain mintmarks:
- Coins struck at the Philadelphia Mint before 1941
- All Philly-minted coins dated 1942 through 1945 EXCEPT war nickels
- Any Philadelphia-minted coins made from 1946 through 1964
- All U.S. coins made from 1965 through 1967
- Philadelphia-minted coins made from 1968 through 1978
- Any Philadelphia-minted coins EXCEPT dollar coins made in 1979
- All Philadelphia-minted pennies struck before 2017
- Philadelphia-minted pennies struck 2019 or later
- West Point-minted pennies and quarters struck in the 1970s and 1980s (these look like the no-mintmark Philly coins)
Wait a minute… what about those no-S proof coins ?
You are not going to find those in circulation ! They only turn up in proof sets. indeed, if you come across, say, a 1968 or 1975 Roosevelt dime without an “ S ” mintmark or 1990 pennies without a mintmark… unfortunately, what you ’ ve very found are equitable coarse Philadelphia-minted coins. These are worth face rate, if worn. These are not no-S mint error coins.
Start here if your coin is missing some letters…
A distribute of coins are missing a few letters, a numeral or two in the date, or even entire inscriptions ! Some of these are legit error coins, while others are merely showing signs of post-mint damage. But how can you tell a mint-made error versus a coin that has been altered or damaged after it left the mint ? here ’ s how :
- If you see scratches, marks, or other forms of damage going into the coin’s surface around missing lettering, it’s likely that the missing design element was intentionally removed by somebody after the coin left the mint. Surface damage surrounding missing letters does not necessarily mean the coin was altered — but it’s most likely to be the case that the coin was manipulated with tools that damaged the surface, in the process of removing the lettering.
- Normally, a mint error involving a missing letter will show uninterrupted flow lines on and around the surface where the lettering is supposed to be. And, in many cases, an error involving a missing letter might still show traces of the lettering on the surface (visible only under magnification).
A List Of Error Coins With Missing Letters
There are a few types of errors in which letter might be partially or amply obscured from the strike. These are some of the situations in which coins that are missing some lettering are actually error coins:
Strikethrough Errors
A strike-through error mint is made when foreign matter (such as grease or a piece of fabric) gets in the lettering or date numerals of the die, which strikes the design onto the lacuna coin. Yep, that alien matter actually creates an mental picture on the strike coin.
many strike-through errors are visually stun coins, and they are prized both for their scarcity equally well as their freshness. Grease strikethroughs are among the most common of all. A grease strikethrough may present as heavy weakness in one area of lettering on a mint. Or it may altogether obliterate a letter or letters in an inscription. mod pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters with small grease strikethrough errors may bring an extra $1 to $2. More acute types of strikethroughs, such as those involving ribbon, a nibble of metallic, or something like, can bring much more money. Some dramatic strikethrough coins are worth $100 or more!
Die-Adjustment Strike Errors
A die-adjustment strike signifies a coin that was struck by a die that was not properly adjusted to create a full strike.
These coins normally exhibit significantly weak designs — which means even uncirculated examples will show very flat designs, with little to no interior detail and unaccented inscription. They are used to test the atmospheric pressure and alliance of a die strike. These test pieces are broadly not intended to circulate, but sometimes they escape the mint. Die-adjustment hit error coins are quite scarce and desirable and are worth $50 or more.
Weak Strikes
A unaccented strike is a park error in which not enough force was used to strike the coin fully, resulting in poor details and partially or fully obscured lettering. Weak strikes differ from die-adjustment strikes in that the former are struck by aging, wear dies. These are not numismatically desirable coins and are worth less than in full fall upon coins.
very few decrepit hit coins are worth more than their fully struck counterparts. The 1922 Weak D penny with no mintmark is possibly the most noteworthy example of a decrepit strike coin selling for more than its well-struck counterpart. That ’ sulfur because the 1922 Weak D roughly resembles the rare 1922 plain no-D penny. 1922 Weak D pennies are worth between $ 25 and $ 50 in banal condition. again, most weak strikes are not worth as much as similar fully struck examples — and thus, generally are not valuable coins.
Missing Edge Lettering
possibly the most popular and valuable types of coins that are missing lettering or inscriptions are those that weren ’ triiodothyronine strike with their edge inscription. The alleged “ Godless ” dollars of the Presidential dollar series that ran from 2007 through 2016 are among the most celebrated United States coins missing their letter. These came about because the inscriptions IN GOD WE TRUST, E PLURIBUS UNUM, the date, and mintmark were missing from the edge of a certain few of these error coins. The letter is missing from some of these coins because the boundary inscriptions are struck individually. godless dollars were originally worth between $300 and $600 when they were first discovered. As more examples were found, their values dropped to between $25 and $50 each.
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I ’ m the Coin Editor here at TheFunTimesGuide. My love for coins began when I was 11 years old. I chiefly collect and study U.S. coins produced during the twentieth century. I ’ m a member of the American Numismatic Association ( ANA ) and the Numismatic Literary Guild ( NLG ) and have won multiple awards from the NLG for my study as a coin diarist. I ’ m besides the editor program at the Florida United Numismatists Club ( FUN Topics cartridge holder ), and writer of Images of America : The United States Mint in Philadelphia ( a koran that explores the colorful history of the Philadelphia Mint ). I ’ ve contributed hundreds of articles for respective mint publications including neologism, The Numismatist, Numismatic News, Coin Dealer Newsletter, Coin Values, and CoinWeek. I ’ ve authored closely 1,000 articles here at The Fun Times Guide to Coins ( many of them with over 50K shares ), and I welcome your coin questions in the comments below !
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