How to Read a US Coin — Coin Collecting Lessons

The front of a coin is the obverse (the 'heads' side, usually with a portrait and the date), and the back is the reverse. The flat background areas are called the fields, the raised design parts are the devices, and the raised border around the edge is the rim. The words stamped on the coin — LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST, E PLURIBUS UNUM — are called legends or mottos.

The two things you'll check on every coin are the date and the mint mark. The date tells you when it was struck; the mint mark is a small letter telling you where. On modern coins the mint mark is on the obverse, usually near the date: below the date on cents, right of Jefferson's ponytail on nickels, above the date on dimes, right of Washington's ribbon on quarters. Many older coins carry it on the reverse instead — this app's coin pages tell you exactly where to look for each series.

No mint mark usually means Philadelphia, which struck most coins without a mark until 1980 (and cents still have no P today). The denomination is spelled out on the reverse — ONE CENT, FIVE CENTS, QUARTER DOLLAR — which matters because older coins don't always look like their modern versions. Date + mint mark + condition is the three-part formula that determines what almost any US coin is worth.

Tip: When you look up any coin's value, always note the date AND the mint mark together. A 1914 cent is common; a 1914-D is a $200+ key date.