Philadelphia Mint Coins

The four Philadelphia Mint buildings

Philadelphia was the national capital when the Coinage Act of April 2, 1792 created the Mint. The first Mint building on Seventh Street was the first federal building erected under the Constitution. David Rittenhouse, the astronomer and instrument maker, served as the first director. The early mint used horse-powered rolling mills and hand-operated screw presses and it stayed in that cramped complex until 1833.

The second Mint, a Greek Revival building designed by William Strickland at Chestnut and Juniper Streets, opened in 1833. Steam-powered coining began there in 1836, which made coins rounder and more uniform. A third Mint on Spring Garden Street opened in 1901 and the fourth, on Independence Mall at Fifth and Arch Streets, opened in 1969. That building is still in use and strikes coins for circulation alongside Denver.

The engravers who designed America's coins

Philadelphia has always been the home of the Mint's engraving staff, so nearly every circulating design started there. Chief engravers have included Robert Scot, William Kneass, Christian Gobrecht, James B. Longacre, William Barber, Charles E. Barber, George T. Morgan, John R. Sinnock, Gilroy Roberts, Frank Gasparro and Elizabeth Jones, the first woman to hold the post. Master hubs and dies for the branch mints were made in Philadelphia and shipped out, which is why a variety created in a master hub can appear on coins from several mints at once.

Philadelphia also kept the Mint Cabinet, a collection of coins and ores started in 1838. It preserved many early American and foreign coins that later moved to the Smithsonian Institution.

Famous coins struck in Philadelphia

Many of the best-known American rarities have no mint mark because they are Philadelphia products. The 1804 silver dollar was actually struck around 1834 for diplomatic presentation sets. The 1856 Flying Eagle cent was made to show Congress the new small cent. The five 1913 Liberty Head nickels were struck without authorization at Philadelphia. The 1933 double eagle was coined there in the same months the government recalled gold. Proof coins were also a Philadelphia specialty for more than a century, until proof production moved to San Francisco in 1968.

Collecting Philadelphia coins

Because Philadelphia usually struck the most coins of any mint, its issues are often the most affordable date in a series. The exceptions come in years when Philadelphia coined little, such as the 1921 Mercury dime, the 1928 Peace dollar and the 1916 Standing Liberty quarter. For coins dated 1980 or later, a missing P on a coin that should carry one is a die error worth checking, as on the 1982 No P dime. Remember that coins dated before 1980 should show no letter at all if they are Philadelphia strikes, apart from the large P on war nickels and the P on the 1979 Anthony dollar.

Frequently asked questions