Where is the mint mark on a US penny?

Answer 1

There are only two types of American cents with mint marks:

• 1908 and 1909 Indian head cents have the mint mark on the back, under the bow of the wreath
• Lincoln cents have the mint mark under the date.

Mint mark letters are as follows:

• No mint mark = Philadelphia
• D = Denver (1910-present)
• S = San Francisco (up to 1955; some circulation cents 1968-1974, proofs 1968-present)

If you live in the eastern half of the U.S., though, you're not likely to find many cents with mint marks because only cents from Denver and (earlier) San Francisco have mint marks.

The reason Philadelphia cents don't have a mint mark even though all other coins carry a P is that demand is sometimes so high that the mints at West Point and/or San Francisco make extra pennies. They make a lot fewer coins than Philadelphia and Denver so if there were W or S pennies they'd be "instant rarities". To prevent that from happening the Mint decided that only Denver cents would carry mint marks even though all other denominations started using the P mark in 1980.

More about Mint Marks

> All coins struck since 1980 except the cent carry a mint mark - P, D, S, or W. "W" only appears on commemorative and bullion coins.

> "S" appears on all proof coins minted since 1968 except for 1999 Anthony dollars; proofs were made in Philadelphia. The only circulating coins made since 1955 that carry an "S" are some cents and nickels in the period 1968-74, and Anthony dollars.

> "P" was used on Philadelphia coins for the first time on WWII nickels, when the composition was changed to silver, copper, and manganese to save nickel metal for the war effort. "P" wasn't used again until 1979 on Anthony dollars. It was put on other denominations starting in 1980.

The mint mark on a US penny is just below the date, to the right of the portrait of Abraham Lincoln. A "D" means that the penny was produced in Denver and an "S" means that it was produced in San Francisco. No mint mark at all means that it was produced in Philadelphia.
On a Lincoln head cent, it is directly under the date. If there is NO mint mark, then that means that the penny was minted in Philadelphia, but the coin books will refer to it as say, a 1987P, given that everybody understands that there is NO actual "P" on the coin. "S" = San Francisco "D" = Denver