Question regarding 1983P nickel

friend

Is there anything special about an undersize Mint Mark? I have this 1983P nickel and the "p" is thesmallest Mint Mark I have ever seen, but I am still able to see it with a loupe. Thank you for your thoughts.

richbeat

Do you mean that the one you have has a smaller P mint mark than other 1983P nickels? All Philly nickels from 1980 to 1984 have a small P mint mark. The mint mark was made much larger beginning in 1985. Is it special? I'd say probably not, but I really don't know. Hope this helps.

CaptHenway

<< <i>Is there anything special about an undersize Mint Mark? I have this 1983P nickel and the "p" is thesmallest Mint Mark I have ever seen, but I am still able to see it with a loupe. Thank you for your thoughts. >>



That was pretty much the normal mint mark size in that era. A small mint mark was easier to hand-punch into a die than a large mint mark, since a larger surface area would have required more force.

The Mint made the mint marks larger when they began placing them on the hubs in 1985. The hubbing press could easily handle the added force.

TD

(P.S.: there is no truth to the rumor, which I just made up, that the Mint made the mint marks larger in order to accomodate us aging Baby Boomers!!!)

cladking

There have been reports of wrong mint mark sizes on coins of that era but
don't remember any particulars. There were at least two different sized
punches and apparently some were used on the wrong denomination.

Be aware though that a mark will appear smaller if it's lighly imprinted
since the design is tapered.

I had forgotten about these.