The West Point Mint Mystery!
High everyone hope all is well. How many of you own cents made from the West Point Mint? Probably all of us. If you look at the pictures below they look like a warehouse. Well that's true. It started out as a storage house for gold bullion back in 1938.
.Now I asked you how many own or have West Point Cents. Probably all of us. The U.S. mint needed help so in 1973 it started making cents!. It was not an official mint of the U.S. yet.It also made quarters. These coins have no mint mark on them. Think of what they would be worth.
These coins were shipped to the Philadelphia mint they had no mint marks. Starting in 1976 they started making Bi - Centennial quarters. These coins were wanted by the public. 1980 it started making Gold Medals. Now take a minute to think of all this coinage being made by a mint that was not yet an official mint of the United States. I was going through some cents from the era. I noticed the rims were higher. Could these be West Point cents. I don't know. But I wish I could tell.
It wasn't till 1988 the West Point mint became an official mint of the United States. I find this absolutely fascinating that business strikes came from a mint that was a bullion storage facility. The public had no idea and the sad part is we will never know what coins were made were. After becoming a Mint of the U.S mint marks began to show on different coins. And did the public like that. Proof coins, Eagles special sets. It has become a mint that coins are wanted from. So next time you go through your cent books think how many are made at West Point. I believe these strikes would be sought after for years.I always wondered if we could test the metal make up of these mystery coins. Yes I believe they would be worth big money but the Treasury Department pulled one on us. They knew they would be made big money. Once they got to Philadelphia that was it. The mint now had the coins they needed so they made it an official mint in 1988. That's allot of coins they made and we didn't have a clue. I hope you enjoyed this .mystery in making coinage!!.Its like a treasure hunt . Find one!!Enjoy!
Comments
Kevin Leab
Level 4
Great blog as always Mike! I never knew most of this about the West Point Mint. Thank you for sharing.
Long Beard
Level 5
You put forth some interesting thoughts pertain to the striking and mystery of West Point circulation coinage. I would think that on a forensic level there is a way to determine which cents, dimes, quarters and so forth came from West Point even though they had the Philadelphia mint mark. Die pairing, for example, comes to mind. Perhaps even something extremely minor such as pressure which produced different depth or detail quality? If we stop to think of all the steps involved in producing a simple coin to be able to replicate each in exactly the same manner becomes increasingly impossible. No one has figured this out, yet.
user_91859
Level 2
Wow! I had no idea that there were pennies and quarters released into circulation from West Point thanks for sharing!
It's Mokie
Level 6
Nice research Mike, I wil incorporate some of that into my presentation for new collectors at the upcoming PAN show.
user_30405
Level 4
Great blog
Kepi
Level 6
Interesting subject for sure! Thanks for the information! Thanks Mike! ; )
"SUN"
Level 6
Enjoyed the blog.
Golfer
Level 5
Mystery for sure ! Fascinating topic. Really makes you think of what coins are West Point and you can't tell !!
Longstrider
Level 6
Fantastic blog. I had no idea about any of this. Why does our government insist on being so damn secretive ? So they can later sell us "W" cents? No that can't be it. Thanks Mike.
The Error Collector
Level 4
I would like if there was a way to tell them apart.
coinsbygary
Level 5
I remember the first W mint-marked coin I bought in the 1984 Olympics commemorative proof eagle. That was really something back then. Great post, Mike!