We all regularly come across difficulties in identifying mint marks. The forum and Numisdoc are full of information but scattered and not easy to find. For the referees, it's a lot of work, moreover uninteresting, to specify every time FM means Franklin Mint etc.
I propose to group here the info, raw or in the form of links, on the subject, with key words like "mint marks Country xx" to make searches easy.
I will start by setting some examples trying to avoid long forum threads where info is hidden in the discussion and let all of you add info and good links.
Quand l'Histoire et la Géographie se croisent sur nos pièces de monnaie ...
Referee for Austria-Habsburg, Austrian Netherlands, Austrian States, Bohemia, Silesia.
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Quand l'Histoire et la Géographie se croisent sur nos pièces de monnaie ...
Referee for Austria-Habsburg, Austrian Netherlands, Austrian States, Bohemia, Silesia.
Traducteur, demandez en cas de besoin ! Translator, ask if you need !
Quand l'Histoire et la Géographie se croisent sur nos pièces de monnaie ...
Referee for Austria-Habsburg, Austrian Netherlands, Austrian States, Bohemia, Silesia.
Traducteur, demandez en cas de besoin ! Translator, ask if you need !
Quand l'Histoire et la Géographie se croisent sur nos pièces de monnaie ...
Referee for Austria-Habsburg, Austrian Netherlands, Austrian States, Bohemia, Silesia.
Traducteur, demandez en cas de besoin ! Translator, ask if you need !
Quand l'Histoire et la Géographie se croisent sur nos pièces de monnaie ...
Referee for Austria-Habsburg, Austrian Netherlands, Austrian States, Bohemia, Silesia.
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I gathered here info provided by ZacUK in a 2012 thread because most links given there are dead.
Letters A and B ?
"It is the mintmark. Above the letter O of ONE on the reverse is either AA or AB letters. This one is AA ...
That second picture is one of my own coins (admittedly a two pence, but still from Gibraltar) - just to show what AB looks like.
1) They tell what die to stamp the coin was used. When AA gets worn or broken it is replaced by AB and so on. So AA is most common, AB is scarcer, etc. Once when AA was being replaced with AB they got it the wrong way round and stamped BA instead.
2) Another thing I learnt is that when a design is brought in they sometimes experiment as to where the AA mark is located.
3) You may have seen that AA does not look like it is printed or written; it is using stylised old-fashioned letters where no curves are used - as seen for example on AB marks.
4) Finally, I also learnt that for Gibraltar (and the Isle of Man also) that I would have assumed because they have the Queen's portrait on, they were made by the Royal Mint in Llantrisant in Wales, U.K. like some other countries do (so perhaps Jersey and Guernsey etc.). But these days a private company called Pobjoy Mint makes them (with PM mintmark) - and probably for other countries as well.
An illustration of the A to H Norse-style letters used for mintmarks
===============
Just making a list of all countries that, for example, regularly have Elizabeth II on them recently; and I put into four sections depending on who (I guess) makes them. Expect to make errors, but here goes ...
Unknown - may have started with Royal Mint then gone elsewhere
Ascension Island, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Saint Helena & Ascension, South Georgia & S. Sandwich Islands, Tristan da Cunha, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu
Others had Elizabeth II in early years, but not nowadays e.g. The Bahamas, Belize, British Honduras, Ceylon, Cyprus, East Africa, The Gambia, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Malaya and British Borneo, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rhodesia, Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Seychelles, South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, Tokelau.
Quand l'Histoire et la Géographie se croisent sur nos pièces de monnaie ...
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Pages taken from Dietiker 1979, Münzkatalog Böhmen, Edition Battenberg, for Habsburg Bohemia coinage 1526 to 1887
Quand l'Histoire et la Géographie se croisent sur nos pièces de monnaie ...
Referee for Austria-Habsburg, Austrian Netherlands, Austrian States, Bohemia, Silesia.
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Quote: "Ecapoe" Unknown - may have started with Royal Mint then gone elsewhere
Ascension Island, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Saint Helena & Ascension, South Georgia & S. Sandwich Islands, Tristan da Cunha, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu
Others had Elizabeth II in early years, but not nowadays e.g. The Bahamas, Belize, British Honduras, Ceylon, Cyprus, East Africa, The Gambia, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Malaya and British Borneo, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rhodesia, Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Seychelles, South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, Tokelau
British Antarctic Territory: coins made by Pobjoy Mint
British Indian Ocean Territory: coins made by Pobjoy Mint
British Virgin Islands: coins before 2000 made by Franklin Mint, after 2000 by Pobyoy Mint, in 2000 both exist so somewhere in 2000 they changed from Franklin Mint to Pobjoy Mint
South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands: coins after 2000 made by Popjoy Mint, coins in 2000: ?
AA and AB and AC. On Gibraltar coins and also Isle of Man coins are not mintmarks. They are die letters. The only mintmarks on those coins are PM for Pobjoy Mint.
Library Media Specialist, columnist, collector, and gardener...
Pages taken from Dietiker 1979, Münzkatalog Böhmen, Edition Battenberg, for Habsburg Bohemia coinage 1526 to 1887
Quand l'Histoire et la Géographie se croisent sur nos pièces de monnaie ...
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A rather useful topic. Could it be somehow saved as Numista document for future reference? Otherwise it might get lost among other threads of the Forum in a month or two.
I collect coins and tokens which circulated in Africa from 18th century to 2000. I sell about 7000 illustrated world coins from http://www.avscoins.com.
Quote: "Andrey"A rather useful topic. Could it be somehow saved as Numista document for future reference? Otherwise it might get lost among other threads of the Forum in a month or two.
This is the idea. As a first step towards a doc, getting the help of the community to gather the information.
It is also the reason why I ask to add always the same key words, "mint marks and name of the country", so they can be found by a search in the forum.
Thanks to all who will contribute !
Quand l'Histoire et la Géographie se croisent sur nos pièces de monnaie ...
Referee for Austria-Habsburg, Austrian Netherlands, Austrian States, Bohemia, Silesia.
Traducteur, demandez en cas de besoin ! Translator, ask if you need !
Yes. And if you're kind enough to add "mint marks Australia and mint marks Argentina as headings of your posts will be perfect.
In fact any info that helps to identify the mint is wanted !
Thanks.
Quand l'Histoire et la Géographie se croisent sur nos pièces de monnaie ...
Referee for Austria-Habsburg, Austrian Netherlands, Austrian States, Bohemia, Silesia.
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crowned b / CM monogram - mark of Czech mint in Jablonec - (Krause clasification - b)
Maple Leaf - Royal Canadian Mint (Krause clasification - L)
Castle - Hamburg mint (Krause clasification - HM)
Mintmarks of Russian Empire: АМ - Anninsky Mint ЕМ - Ekaterinburg Mint КМ - Suzun Mint БК, НД, НДЗ - Naberezhny Mint, Moscow
МД, МДЗ, WД - Kadashevsky Mint, Moscow ММ - Krasny Mint, Moscow ММД - Krasny Mint (Red Mint), Moscow (MMD) СПБ - St. Petersburg Mint (SPB) СПМ - St. Petersburg Mint (SPM) СПМ - Izhora Mint ИМ - Izhora Mint (IM) СМ - Suzun Mint (SM) СМ - Sestroretsk Mint СМ - St. Petersburg Mint СМ - Banking mint, St. Petersburg ТМ - Tauric Mint, Feodosiya ВМ - Warsaw Mint (WM)
Some mints without mintmark:
Naberezhny Mint, Moscow
Kadashevsky Mint, Moscow
Plashilnaya mill on the Yauza river, Moscow
Petrograd Mint (former St. Petersburg Mint)
Also special cases: СПБ - Rosenkranz Works, St. Petersburg СПБ - Birmingham Mint * - Paris Mint ** - Brussels Mint
Mintmarks of Soviet Union: ЛМД – Leningrad Mint (LMD) Л – Leningrad Mint (L) ММД – Moscow Mint (MMD) М – Moscow Mint (M)
NAM - North American Mint (www.northamericanmint.com)
American Mint (for Bayerisches Münzkontor Göde, Germany)
Eagle head
GDC - Green Duck Corporation. They changed their name into GDC Casino Tokens and in June 1999 the mint was closed.
Chicago, Illinois 1906 - 1962
Hernando, Mississippi 1962 - 2004 https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v13n50a16.html
gd - Green Duck Mint
CT - Casino Tokens, Inc.
S - Sunshine Minting, Inc. Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (www.sunshinemint.com)
CC - Continental Coin Corp Rotation
CIL - CHIPCO International, Ltd.
CM - Columbia Mint
JM - Jani Mint J, (J)
KI - Kilmartin Industries
LM - Lombardi Mint Inc
MM - Metalcraft Mint
MTE - Michigan Tool Engineering
NC Mint - Nevada City Minting (NC Mint)
NCM - Nevada Coin Mart
NWTM - Northwest Territorial Mint
OPM - Olde Philadelphia Mint
PE - Product Engineering (PE)
SSM - Silver State Mint
USM - United Silver Mint
W - Wendell
Triangular mintmark - Thévenon & Co. A four-leaf clover on the inside of this triangle and the inscription T&CIE.
Monnaie de Paris tourist tokens:
2 cornucopia / horns of plenty EVM - Mint-mark of Euro Vending Medals, the distributor of these medals.
cornucopia / horn of plenty
Double cornucopia since around 1994 for Monnaie de Paris (fr: Double corne d'abondance depuis environ 1994 pour la Monnaie de Paris)
More informations about Monnaie de Paris mintmarks here (french) : https://fr.numista.com/forum/topic71808.html
ZC - Zlatarna Celje (Slovenian goldsmith company in the city Celje), older name was CZ - Celjska Zlatarna.
ZC (new abbrevation), CZ (old one). http://www.zlatarnacelje.si/en
Are those really mintmarks on the West African coins? i thought they were all struck at the same place but had a letter added to show who they were struck for. i also thought they did away with those marks.
Library Media Specialist, columnist, collector, and gardener...
you are right, the mark shows where the coins were put into circulation. Those marks are really "Country Codes". I got carried away, since I have them in my folder for mint marks, which I started years ago to be able to find where "marks" could be found!
Are you still coming to Oklahoma to visit family? I still would love the chance to meet you. I was looking at one of the Krause catalogs on the Kindle. My name is right next to yours as a contributor.
Library Media Specialist, columnist, collector, and gardener...
EAT in Oklahoma, dec 20th at 17:55, leaving jan, 3rd at 13:05.
Of course I'm with my daughter in Edmond during the holidays, but we might be able to meet somewhere during the 2 weeks? I don't rent a car, so I've no public transports. Edmond is in the north and I think you're in the south, so try to figure out something. I would be delighted to meet you. Maybe we should go on with PM or just normal mails (I prefer).
Pobjoy Mint employees have told me that the letters on the Isle of Man coins (AA, AB, BC, etc) are not die letters, but indicate the intended distribution method for the coinage.
Their only mintmark is the PM.
Pobjoy Mint lost the coinage contract for Gibraltar a few years ago. They lost the contract for Isle of Man this year.
Quote: "halfdisme"Pobjoy Mint employees have told me that the letters on the Isle of Man coins (AA, AB, BC, etc) are not die letters, but indicate the intended distribution method for the coinage.
Their only mintmark is the PM.
Pobjoy Mint lost the coinage contract for Gibraltar a few years ago. They lost the contract for Isle of Man this year.
i have just started collecting foreign coins so i have a lot to learn I have several ISLE OF MAN coine and can not find these marks {AA AB BC etc} Where are they located on the coin.
Die letters AA or Die letters AB Are so much easier to say than method of distribution letters on a die AA or method of distribution letters on a die AB. You are right. But we collectors have been calling the letters that appear on a die, die letters for nearly 40 years now. They obviously are not the mintmark. And die leeters are more shorthand than anything. We also use the term privy mark for all the little marks that appear on Manx coins. The die letters appear in various different locations on the reverse of the coin. Depends on denomination and design. What do you got?
Library Media Specialist, columnist, collector, and gardener...
Die letters AA or Die letters AB are so much easier to say than method of distribution letters on a die AA or method of distribution letters on a die AB. You are right. But we collectors have been calling the letters that appear on a die, die letters for nearly 40 years now. They obviously are not the mintmark. And die letters are more shorthand than anything. We also use the term privy mark for all the little marks that appear on Manx coins. The die letters appear in various different locations on the reverse of the coin. Depends on denomination and design. What do you got?
Library Media Specialist, columnist, collector, and gardener...
Just a link to a nice post about those by Essor Prof.
Quand l'Histoire et la Géographie se croisent sur nos pièces de monnaie ...
Referee for Austria-Habsburg, Austrian Netherlands, Austrian States, Bohemia, Silesia.
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Quote: "KennyG"There's plenty with H (Heaton) and KN (King's Norton) on British, British colonial, and other non-imperial countries such as Egypt and Chile.
For some countries (East Africa in particular comes to mind), when the dies were prepared at the London Mint, for use in the Heaton or King's Norton Mints, the die would actually show the mintmark as "KHN", and the contracted mint was supposed to remove the inapplicable letters. Sometimes they did not do so, and so there are some error coins that have the KHN mintmark.
Quote: "halfdisme"Pobjoy Mint employees have told me that the letters on the Isle of Man coins (AA, AB, BC, etc) are not die letters, but indicate the intended distribution method for the coinage.
Their only mintmark is the PM.
Pobjoy Mint lost the coinage contract for Gibraltar a few years ago. They lost the contract for Isle of Man this year.
i have just started collecting foreign coins so i have a lot to learn I have several ISLE OF MAN coine and can not find these marks {AA AB BC etc} Where are they located on the coin.
The AA etc letters are on the reverse (not the queen's side), and they are positioned differently on various issues; you just have to hunt for them with a good magnifier. Check the catalog, however, there are many IOM issues that do not have these letters.
Several mints should be added to this list, including:
Bolivia PTA monogram La Plata
Bolivia P Potosi
Colombia (Krause 1701-1800 lists several mintmarks each for Bogota, for Cartagena, and for Popayan; two for Medellin)
Colombia SM Santa Marta
Panama (A above P)
Santo Domingo SP or monogram of SDo
Peru L Lima
Ecuador P Pasto (2 reales of 1822 only) (some sources report this as Popayan, from which the Royalist forces had retreated with the mint machinery)
Mexico Ca Chihuahua
Mexico D Durango
Mexico Ga Guadalajara
Mexico Go Guanajuato
Mexico Zs Zacatecas
Philippines M or MA Manila (unless this list is only for Western Hemisphere mints)
If you are listing mints, and not just mintmarks, there are several Mexico mints during the Mexican Independence Revolution that were Royalist, including San Fernando de Bexar (aka San Antonio, Texas); and there are some Venezuela mints during the War for Independence, including Caracas, which did not have mintmarks or spelled out the location.
Several mints should be added to this list, including:
Bolivia PTA monogram La Plata
Bolivia P Potosi
Colombia (Krause 1701-1800 lists several mintmarks each for Bogota, for Cartagena, and for Popayan; two for Medellin)
Colombia SM Santa Marta
Panama (A above P)
Santo Domingo SP or monogram of SDo
Peru L Lima
Ecuador P Pasto (2 reales of 1822 only) (some sources report this as Popayan, from which the Royalist forces had retreated with the mint machinery)
Mexico Ca Chihuahua
Mexico D Durango
Mexico Ga Guadalajara
Mexico Go Guanajuato
Mexico Zs Zacatecas
Philippines M or MA Manila (unless this list is only for Western Hemisphere mints)
If you are listing mints, and not just mintmarks, there are several Mexico mints during the Mexican Independence Revolution that were Royalist, including San Fernando de Bexar (aka San Antonio, Texas); and there are some Venezuela mints during the War for Independence, including Caracas, which did not have mintmarks or spelled out the location.
And don't forget Puerto Rico, five-pointed star.
Referee for Spain, Iberia (ancient), Suebi Kingdom and Visigothic Kingdom
For Guatemala, Antigua used the G mintmark until it was destroyed by volcanic eruption and earthquake in 1773.
When New Guatemala City and its mint were built, the mint used the NG mintmark beginning in 1777, but for its first year (1776) it used the G mintmark.
I tried to limit my additions to the Spanish Colonial mints list to the Royalist mints. There are additional mints, if you wish to include those controlled by the insurgents.
For Potosi, the Royalist issues are listed under Bolivia, and the insurgent issues (from the same mint, when not under Royalist control) are listed under Argentina (Provincias del Rio de La Plata).
I am afraid France has not been displayed till now; I just copy & paste the post revolution mints, but royal ones are listed by wiki.
Source is wiki:
Marque Ville
A Paris
AA Metz
B Rouen
BB Strasbourg
C Castelsarrasin
D Lyon
H La Rochelle
I Limoges
K Bordeaux
L Bayonne
M Toulouse
MA Marseille
N Montpellier
Q Perpignan
R Orléans
T Nantes
W Lille
Quote: "Cyrillius"Mintmarks of Russian Empire:
...
Some mints without mintmark:
Naberezhny Mint, Moscow
Kadashevsky Mint, Moscow
Plashilnaya mill on the Yauza river, Moscow
Petrograd Mint (former St. Petersburg Mint)
Spain.
Spanish Royal Mint. Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre – Real Casa de la Moneda (National Coinage and Stamp Factory – Royal Mint", abbreviated as FNMT-RCM) M http://www.fnmt.es/en/home
Singapore mint official Website. You will notice the logo is the same as Singapore mint logo. https://www.singaporemint.com/
Be kind to people. Sharing is Caring. Collect what you like and not by the Crowd.
To seek for perfection, it is too painful and there is a very high price to pay. To seek for something comfortable is more easy. To seek for nothing is even more easy.
For most of the history of the US mint, the mint marks were placed on each die individually after the die was made. They were placed/struck into the die by hand using a letter punch and a hammer. Therefore, mint mark placement varies considerably, and this is normal. Mintmark size is a different story, and different sized mint marks are noted by the specialists in each series. Unless the mint mark location is very far off from where it belongs, or is touching some design feature that it should not, there is generally no difference in value. If they are somewhat high, low, left, or right it does not matter. I seem to recall that in the last 20 years or so the mint marks began to be placed in some more reproducible way. An interesting sidelight of the hand punching of mintmarks is seen in the Indian Quarter Eagles and Half Eagles of the early 20th century. The entire design is incuse, except that mintmarks are raised above everything else on the coins, because the mint mark was punched into the die after the die was made.
Quote: "KennyG"There's plenty with H (Heaton) and KN (King's Norton) on British, British colonial, and other non-imperial countries such as Egypt and Chile.
Heaton and Imperial Chemical Industries were also involved in the early Israelian coins from 1949, as in this one, f.ex.
We all regularly come across difficulties in identifying mint marks. The forum and Numisdoc are full of information but scattered and not easy to find. For the referees, it's a lot of work, moreover uninteresting, to specify every time FM means Franklin Mint etc.
I propose to group here the info, raw or in the form of links, on the subject, with key words like "mint marks Country xx" to make searches easy.
I will start by setting some examples trying to avoid long forum threads where info is hidden in the discussion and let all of you add info and good links.
Equivalent thread on fr forum : https://fr.numista.com/forum/topic58071.html
Quote: "Ecapoe"Hello,
We all regularly come across difficulties in identifying mint marks. The forum and Numisdoc are full of information but scattered and not easy to find. For the referees, it's a lot of work, moreover uninteresting, to specify every time FM means Franklin Mint etc.
I propose to group here the info, raw or in the form of links, on the subject, with key words like "mint marks Country xx" to make searches easy.
I will start by setting some examples trying to avoid long forum threads where info is hidden in the discussion and let all of you add info and good links.
Equivalent thread on fr forum : https://fr.numista.com/forum/topic58071.html
I have quite a few old French coins in my collection, and am trying to identify the mint mark letters on them. But, online, I have noted lists are not often complete ones. Also there are other strange symbols which I think are engraver's marks or privy mark for a mint.
Quand l'Histoire et la Géographie se croisent sur nos pièces de monnaie ...
Referee for Austria-Habsburg, Austrian Netherlands, Austrian States, Bohemia, Silesia.
Traducteur, demandez en cas de besoin ! Translator, ask if you need !
I hope somebody can help me.
I have a plaquette by Istvan Csillag (Hungarian).
The plaquette is for the "Sparta Atletikai Klub".
It has the date "1909" but I think it is the year the club was founded.
The reverse is blank except for two marks that I have not been able to identify.
See photo.
Does anybody know what these mean?
Thanks, aramr1800
A few years back I brought a Job Lot of Foreign coins, and in There I had found a 1982 P US Quarter Dollar and
It looks like The P on the Coin near Washington's Head looks like it been filled in by error.
I may be wrong as it could of been damage threw circulation as It's almost 40 years old.
Please can anybody help as I am not that hot on errors on coins
Quote: "ZacUK"A 'filled in by error' coin is from a blocked die -
especially as mint letters on those coins are small.
My thought, too. The P mint marks for that year have a small opening compared to some other years. See Variety Vista site for pictures of the mintmark.
Quote: "remsengland"Hi I am In Portsmouth England.
A few years back I brought a Job Lot of Foreign coins, and in There I had found a 1982 P US Quarter Dollar and
It looks like The P on the Coin near Washington's Head looks like it been filled in by error.
I may be wrong as it could of been damage threw circulation as It's almost 40 years old.
Please can anybody help as I am not that hot on errors on coins
Many Thanks
Quote: "Cyrillius"US Private Mint
FM - Franklin Mint (www.franklinmint.com)
FRANCE ___________
Monnaie de Paris tourist tokens:
2 cornucopia / horns of plenty
EVM - Mint-mark of Euro Vending Medals, the distributor of these medals.
cornucopia / horn of plenty
______________________________________________________________
Double cornucopia since around 1994 for Monnaie de Paris (fr: Double corne d'abondance depuis environ 1994 pour la Monnaie de Paris)
More informations about Monnaie de Paris mintmarks here (french) : https://fr.numista.com/forum/topic71808.html
Can you tell me what currency it is and what its approximate value is?
1557 Coin with Armored Figure and Eagle for Identifiaction. It is a silver coin, about 40 mm in diameter and cca 29 g weight. Thanks for helping me
Quote: "Ecapoe"Mint marks Gibraltar
Mint marks UK
I gathered here info provided by ZacUK in a 2012 thread because most links given there are dead.
Letters A and B ?
"It is the mintmark.
Could somebody please split the real mint marks up into COINS and EXONUMIA, they should not be together because Exonumia are not mints, hence the marks are not mint marks but Exo marks…..
And of course leave the coin section with only the mint marks. Don't forget to create the similar thread in Exonumia, where it's not for the moment.
Thanks to somebody, who is allowed to do such a thread split.
Does anyone know of an image or illustration of the Lille mint mark, denoted L-couronné (crowned L) and mentioned under the half Ecu of 1690-93, for example. I am trying to verify this and all the research I have found deals with later mint marks.
Does anyone know of an image or illustration of the Lille mint mark, denoted L-couronné (crowned L) and mentioned under the half Ecu of 1690-93, for example. I am trying to verify this and all the research I have found deals with later mint marks.