Expert: Dan Moore - 7/5/2011

Question
I have a few pennies, nickels, dimes, and a quarter I'd like to ask you about.
I have a 1993, 1983, and a 1980 regular old Lincoln penny; but they don't have mint marks. is this some kind of error, or was it on purpose? Are they valuable? I found this other penny in my spare change jar, and it looks like any other penny. (dated 2009 with D mint)
the only thing weird about it is on the back, it has Lincoln standing in front of the capitol building, not the ordinary flat building. is this one any valuable either? (sorry about my horrible grammar.)
I also have two nickels, both dated 1964. One is mint marked with a D (I have two of these), the other one isn't. Can you tell me why this is? are either of them valuable? and for the quarter, I think it's botanical. It has two dates under Washington's head, and a drummer boy on back. is it?
now here's the dimes. I have three dimes dated 1965, 1966, and 1967; with no mint marks. is this an error, or on purpose?
if you could, please tell me how valuable these coins are; if they are at all. :)
thanks!

Answer
Michele,

All your coins are normal.

The 1993, 1983, and 1980 Lincoln pennies, the 1964 nickel, and the 1965, 1966, and 1967 dimes have no mintmark because they were minted at the main mint in Philadelphia.  "P" mintmarks were not added to any coins until 1980 and are still not found on any Lincoln pennies -- even brand new ones.  All these coins are normal -- you would see lots of them if you lived on the East Coast -- go ahead and spend them.

The 2009-D penny is a commemorative issue -- one of 4 designs issued in 2009 -- the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth.  More info about this program can be found here :

http://www.usmint.gov/kids/coinNews/cents/

http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/CoinLibrary/#2009LincolnOneCent

These were issued for regular circulation, so they don't have any significant collector value either.

The 1776-1976 quarter was issued to commemorate the country's bicentennial.  They minted these for two years (there are no 1975-dated quarters), so they are plentiful -- no significant collector value.

I hope this helps,

Dan