Four mints currently operate in the United States, producing
billions of coins each year. The main mint is the
Philadelphia Mint, which produces circulating coinage,
mint sets and commemorative coins. The
Denver Mint also produces circulating coinage, mint sets and commemoratives. The
San Francisco Mint produces regular and silver
proof coinage, and produced circulating coinage until the 1970s. The
West Point Mint produces
bullion coinage (including proofs). Philadelphia and Denver produce the
dies used at all of the mints. The proof and mint sets are manufactured each year and contain examples of all of the year's circulating coins. The producing mint of each coin may be easily identified, as most coins bear a mint mark. The identifying letter of the mint can be found on the front side of most coins, and is often placed near the year. Unmarked coins are issued by the Philadelphia mint. Among marked coins, Philadelphia coins bear a letter P. Denver coins bear a letter D, San Francisco coins bear a letter S, and West Point coins bear a letter W. S and W coins are rarely found in general circulation, although S coins bearing dates prior to the mid-1970s are in circulation. The CC, O, C, and D mint marks were used on gold and silver coins for various periods from the mid-19th century until the early 20th century by temporary mints in
Carson City, Nevada;
New Orleans, Louisiana;
Charlotte, North Carolina; and
Dahlonega, Georgia. Most such coins that still exist are now in the hands of collectors and museums.
Coins in circulation Remarks • The
mass and composition of the cent changed to the current copper-plated zinc core in 1982. Both types were minted in 1982 with no distinguishing mark. Cents minted in 1943 were struck on planchets punched from zinc-coated steel which left the resulting edges uncoated. This caused many of these coins to rust. These
"steel pennies" are not likely to be found in circulation today, as they were later intentionally removed from circulation for recycling the metal and by collectors. However, cents minted from 1944 to 1946 were made from salvaged WWII ammunition shells, making a special brass composition to replace the steel cents, but still save material for the war effort, and are more common in circulation than their 1943 counterparts. Starting 2026, pennies are minted only for collectible sets due to cost. • The wheat cent was mainstream and common during its time. Some dates are rare, but many can still be found in circulation. This is partially due to the fact that unlike the formerly silver denominations (dollar, half dollar, quarter, and dime), the composition of the pre-1982 cent, nearly pure copper, is not so much more valuable over face value for it to be hoarded to the extreme extent of the silver denominations. • Nickels produced from mid-1942 through 1945 were manufactured from 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese. This allowed the saved nickel metal to be shifted to industrial production of military supplies during World War II. Few of these are still found in circulation. • Prior to 1965 and passage of the
Coinage Act of 1965 the composition of the dime, quarter, half-dollar and dollar coins was 90% silver and 10% copper. The half-dollar continued to be minted in a 40% silver-clad composition between 1965 and 1970. Dimes and quarters from before 1965 and half-dollars from before 1971 are generally not in circulation due to being removed for their
silver content. Some modern commemorative coins have been minted in the silver dollar denominations. • In 1975 and 1976
U.S. Bicentennial coinage was minted. Regardless of date of coining, each coin bears the dual date "1776-1976". The Quarter-Dollar, Half-Dollar and Dollar coins were issued in the copper 91.67% nickel 8.33% composition for general circulation and the Government issued six-coin Proof Set. A special three-coin set of 40% silver coins were also issued by the U.S. Mint in both Uncirculated and Proof. • Use of the half-dollar is not as widespread as that of other coins in general circulation; most Americans use quarters, dimes, nickels and cents only, as these are the only coins most often found in general circulation. When found, many 50¢ coins are quickly hoarded, spent, or brought to banks. As large numbers of half dollars are typically held by banks or available to order, they are often sought after by
coin roll hunters for the purpose of searching for silver coins, proofs, and coins not intended for circulation. • The Presidential Dollar series features portraits of all deceased
U.S. Presidents with four coin designs issued each year in the order of the president's inauguration date. These coins began circulating on February 15, 2007. Starting 2012, these coins have been minted only for collectible sets because of a large stockpile. • The
Susan B. Anthony dollar coin was minted from 1979 to 1981 and 1999. The 1999 minting was in response to Treasury supplies of the dollar becoming depleted and the inability to accelerate the minting of the Sacagawea dollars by a year. 1981 Anthony dollars can sometimes be found in circulation from proof sets that were broken open, but these dollars were not minted with the intent that they circulate. • Although dollar coins have not been struck for circulation since the Sacagawea and Presidential dollar runs ending in 2011, the continuing Native American dollar series and the newer American Innovation dollar series are considered circulation coins by the US Mint. • Since 2019, each American Innovation dollar coin features a different privy mark, changed annually, located just below "IN GOD WE TRUST".
Bullion coins Non-circulating
bullion coins have been produced each year since 1986. They can be found in
gold,
silver,
platinum (since 1997), and
palladium (since 2017). The face value of these coins is legal as tender, but does not actually reflect the value of the precious metal contained therein. On May 11, 2011,
Utah became the first state to accept these coins as the value of the precious metal in common transactions. The
Utah State Treasurer assigns a numerical precious metal value to these coins each week based on the spot metal prices. The bullion coin types include "S" (San Francisco, 1986–1992), "P" (Philadelphia, 1993 – 2000), and "W" (West Point, New York, 2001–present).
Commemorative coins Modern
commemoratives have been minted since 1982. A list is available
here. == Mint marks ==