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What Is A No Mint Mark Coin?
By GovMint :
From 1792 until 1837, there were no mint marks on U.S. coins since there was a single coinage producing facility, the nation's first mint in Philadelphia. However, in 1838 three additional branch mints opened and began striking additional coinage for our growing country: The Charlotte Mint, the Dahlonega Mint, and the New Orleans Mint. The marks on the coins were "C," "D," and "O," respectively. The mints at Charlotte, North Carolina, and Dahlonega, Georgia, struck only gold coinage in response to local, short-lived gold rushes.
Since the bulk of the U.S. coinage supply was struck at the Philadelphia Mint, and it was not the practice to use a mint mark for this mint. Instead, it was quite literally "the default mint"—meaning that it was struck in Philadelphia if the coin didn't have a mint mark.
What if there is no mint mark on a coin?
As stated above, typically, a coin that bears no mint mark was struck in Philadelphia. There are some exceptions to that rule that we know about. Bullion issues from the United States mint, like the American Silver Eagle, do not carry a mint mark, although their mint of origin might be identifiable by other means, such as serial numbers on monster boxes.
Between the years 1974 and 1986, Lincoln Cents were struck at the West Point bullion storage facility. The West Point facility did not become an official U.S. branch mint until 1988. These cents bear no mint mark, and there is no way for collectors to distinguish if a penny struck between those years came from Philadelphia or West Point. Similarly, Washington Quarters bearing no mint mark were produced at the West Point facility between 1977 and 1979. Again, these West Point coins are indistinguishable from their Philadelphia counterparts. Mint officials at the time were concerned that the inclusion of a W mint mark would encourage collecting and hoarding of the coins precisely when they were needed for commerce…so no mint mark.
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