How to identify a coin: date, mint mark, metal and variety
Identify any coin in four steps: read the country and denomination, find the date and mint mark, test the metal, then check the varieties that change the value.
Every price guide is organised the same way: country, denomination, date, mint mark, variety, grade. Identify a coin in that order and you can look up any coin ever made; skip a step and you are guessing. This guide walks the order with US coins as the example, and points to where a photo identifier saves the work.
Steps checked on 29 October 2026 against the US Mint’s mint-mark reference and current price guides.
- Country and denominationFrom the lettering and design
- Date and mint markObverse since 1968; reverse on most older coins
- MetalWeight and the magnet test
- VarietyThe doubled dies and mint-mark varieties for that issue
1. Country and denomination
The lettering tells you most of it: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ONE CENT, FIVE CENTS, the Latin mottoes. For foreign coins look for the country name in its own language (DEUTSCHLAND, ESPAÑA, 中华人民共和国), a denomination word (PFENNIG, CENTAVOS, YEN) and a date, which may be in a different calendar. When the lettering is worn the design does the job: a portrait, an eagle, a wreath, a coat of arms. This is the step a photo identifier is best at: it matches the design against a database of 300,000+ coin types rather than your memory.
2. Date and mint mark
The date is the easy part; the mint mark is where value hides. The US Mint moved mint marks to the obverse in 1968 and left them off circulating coins from 1965 to 1967. On US coins:
| Coin | Mint mark position | Marks you will see |
|---|---|---|
| Lincoln cent (1909–) | Obverse, under the date | None (Philadelphia), D, S; P only in 2017 |
| Indian Head cent | Reverse, under the wreath (1908–1909 only) | S |
| Jefferson nickel | Reverse, right of Monticello; large, above the dome on 1942–45 war nickels; obverse from 1968 | D, S, P |
| Dimes, quarters, halves to 1964 | Reverse (the spot varies by series) | D, S, O (older) |
| Coins dated 1965–1967 | None on circulating coins | — |
| Dimes, quarters, halves from 1968 | Obverse | D, S, P, W (2019–20 quarters) |
| Morgan and Peace dollars | Reverse, below the eagle | O, S, CC, D |
A missing mint mark on a coin that should have one is sometimes the variety (1922 no D cent), and sometimes the fake. A mint mark that looks added often is; authenticate before paying a key-date price.
3. Metal
The metal confirms the identification and catches the famous errors. A kitchen scale reading to 0.01 g and a fridge magnet are the tools:
- A bronze or brass US cent weighs 3.11 g; the 1943 steel cent 2.70 g and the post-1982 zinc cent 2.5 g. A 1943 cent that does not stick to a magnet or a 1944 cent that does is a wrong-planchet error candidate.
- Dimes and quarters dated 1964 or earlier are 90% silver and show no copper stripe on the edge; the copper-nickel clad coins from 1965 do.
- Nickels of 1942–45 with a large mint mark above Monticello are 35% silver.
4. Variety
Once you know the date and mint, check the varieties known for it: doubled dies, repunched mint marks, small and large dates. They are listed per year on the value pages, with where to look. This is the step that turns an ordinary 1955 cent into a $1,000 one, and it is the step most people skip.
Then, and only then, the value
With the coin identified, judge the wear (grade) and read the value range on its page, for example the 1943 steel penny. The coin identifier does steps one and two from a photo and estimates the grade; the metal test and the variety check are yours, with the value pages as the reference, and the final price is the market’s.
Scan your coin with the free app
Photograph the front and back and Coin Checker tells you the coin, the mint mark, the varieties to look for and an estimated value — then saves it to your collection. Free on iPhone and Android.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find out what coin I have?
Start with the lettering: the country name, denomination and any date are usually on the coin. Match the portrait or emblem to the issuing country, then look near the date or on the reverse for a mint mark. If the lettering is worn, the design, size and metal still identify the type, and a photo identifier can match the design for you.
Where is the mint mark on a US coin?
Since 1968 US coins carry the mint mark on the obverse; before that most carried it on the reverse, and circulating coins of 1965 to 1967 have none, according to the US Mint. Lincoln cents are the exception: the mark has always been under the date. Jefferson nickels show it right of Monticello, or large above the dome on 1942–45 war nickels.
What do the letters on a coin mean?
P is Philadelphia (often omitted), D is Denver, S is San Francisco, W is West Point, CC is Carson City and O is New Orleans; on early gold, C and D also mark Charlotte and Dahlonega. Small initials elsewhere on the coin are the designer's, such as VDB on the 1909 Lincoln cent or FG for Frank Gasparro on Kennedy halves.
How can I identify a coin with no date?
From the design, size and metal. Buffalo nickels and Standing Liberty quarters lose their dates first, but the type is still obvious, and some types can be narrowed by design details that changed between years. A dateless coin is usually worth little, because the date and mint mark set the price.
Is there a free app to identify coins?
Yes. The Coin Checker app is free to download on iPhone and Android: photograph a coin and it returns the name, year, rarity and an estimated value, with an optional Premium subscription. The value pages on this site are free too, and list the varieties to check for each date.