United States Mint

The United States Mint, a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, is responsible for producing coins for the United States to use in its commerce and trade. It also controls the movement of bullion. It does not produce paper money. That responsibility is held by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. In Philadelphia, the first United States Mint was established in 1792. It was soon joined by other centers that were identified by their mint marks. There are currently four active mints producing coins: West Point, Denver, San Francisco and San Francisco.

In 1652, the Massachusetts Bay Colony established Boston's mint. John Hull was the Treasurer and Mintmaster. Robert Sanderson was Hull's partner in the "Hull Mint". The historical marker reads:.mw-parser-output .templatequoteoverflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequoteciteline-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0

The P mintmark, which was removed after the war, was reintroduced to the Anthony dollar in 1979. It was on every regular-issue coin, except the cent, by 1982. The exception being 2017 Lincoln Cents, which still bears no P mark. Because their facilities were used for Philadelphia's production, the circulating cents from San Francisco (except proofs), and West Point in the 1980s do not bear a mintmark. They might have been kept as collectibles due to the small numbers produced at each facility.

In commemoration the U.S Mint's 225th anniversary, the P mintmark was added to the obverse Philadelphia-minted Lincoln Cents for the first times in its 100+ year history. The P mintmark was not present for 2018 and the subsequent circulation strikes minted here.

In order to discourage numismatists from hoarding coins, mintmarks were temporarily removed from the penny and nickel between 1965 and 1967 as the Mint worked to replace silver coins with base metal coins. Since 1971, mintmarks have been on the obverses of the dollar, nickel, dime and quarter.

The composition of the five-cent coin was altered to include silver due to a shortage in nickel during World War II. Nickels minted in Philadelphia, which had previously been without mintmarks, now have a P in the field just above Monticello. The same was true for nickels from San Francisco, and Denver nickels were also minted in this manner. This mintmark change continued until 1946, when the nickel returned back to its pre-war state.

The United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund was established in 1995 to fund the production and sale circulating coinage as well as other functions of the Mint. Any profits that exceed operating expenses are returned to Treasury. The Mint's procurement or contracting activities are exempt from government procurement regulations.

Except for a short period in 1838-1839, all coins issued at U.S. branch miners prior to 1908 had the mintmark of that branch on their reverse. Larger denominations of silver and gold coins were marked with the Dahlonega (City), New Orleans (O, respectively) mintmarks on the obverse (front), just above the dates in those two years. From 1870-1893, Carson City was a U.S. Branch Mint. Coins were produced with a CC mark. The M mintmark was used by the Manila Mint, the only U.S. mint that produced U.S. Territorial or U.S. Commonwealth coins from 1920-1941.