Why No Mint Marks on United States Coins from 1965 to 1967

Many people wonder why they can't find any coins from 1965, 1966, or 1967 with a mint mark. The truth is that the United States Mint did not officially produce any coins with a mint mark during these years due to a coin shortage.

The coin collecting craze in the early 1960s led to a nationwide coin shortage. People were hoarding coins for their collections, and others were pulling silver coins out of circulation to capitalize on the rising silver bullion values. In response, the U.S. Mint decided to discourage coin collectors from saving coins based on mint marks by not including any mint marks on coins from 1965 to 1967.

The Coin Act of 1965 mandated the removal of mint marks, a practice that continued for five years. Additionally, to address rising silver prices, the Mint eliminated silver from dimes and quarters in 1965 and reduced the half-dollar's silver content from 90% to 40%.

In 1968, Congress acted to restore mint marks to coins, but now they would be located on the obverse. Before 1968, most coins had mint marks on the reverse. Lincoln pennies were an exception, having mint marks on the obverse before 1968. The U.S. Mint also resumed production of regular proof and mint sets.

Despite efforts to discourage coin hoarding, collectors continued to pull millions of coins from circulation based on mint marks. This trend persisted during the 50 State Quarters program, with people eagerly seeking coins with mint marks from different regions of the nation. The eastern half of the U.S. sought Denver-minted coins, while people in the west looked for Philadelphia issues.