Expert: Dan Moore - 7/13/2007

Question
I am not a collector-just a hobbyist, so my coin knowledge is very limited.  I do have a lot of old silver coins from my mother as well as a collection of the current US coins I try to maintain.  I recently noticed the "s" mint mark on one of my Statehood quarters, which I did not expect.  From my research, I presume this coin is a silver proof? This aroused my curiosity about the bicentennial quarters my daughter is fond of--how do you identify silver bicentennials?  Thank you.

Answer
Hi Cheryl,

The "S" mintmark on the state quarters and bicentennial quarters signifies that the coin was minted at the San Francisco Mint, but not necessarily that they are silver.  Silver coins are identifiable by the fact that they will NOT have the copper stripe along the outer edge (like today's regular circulating quarters do).

For the bicentennial quarters, there are three different types with the "S mintmark :

1) Copper-nickel proof (mirrored finish with copper stripe on edge)
2) Silver proof (mirrored finish and no copper stripe)
3) Silver uncirculated (non-mirrored finish and no copper stripe)

For the state quarters there are two different types with the "S mintmark :

1) Copper-nickel proof (mirrored finish with copper stripe on edge)
2) Silver proof (mirrored finish and no copper stripe)

I hope this helps,

Dan