1965 ONE CENT

Circulation strikes: 1,497,224,900
Proofs: 2,360,000
Designer:
Obverse by Victor David Brenner
Reverse by Frank Gasparro
Diameter: ±19 millimeters
Metal content:
Copper - 95%
Tin and Zinc - 5%
Weight: ±3.11 grams
Edge: Plain
Mintmark: None
Value: $0.20 (MS-63) up to $0.50 (MS-65)

First the obligatory "I'm still having fun playing with the microscope" pic... A tiny Lincoln in the memorial, how cool is that!

The coinage act of 1695 prohibited the use of mint marks… the idea was to help alleviate coin shortages by removing mint distinctions so collectors could not tell which mint a coin was from… because, you know, collectors are the primary cause of coin shortages… The result was no mint marks on coins dated 1965, 1966, and 1967. While the original prohibition was for a five year period congressional authorization permitted the early return of the mint mark in January of 1968. For sorting purposes I always think of the ’65-‘67 coins as Philadelphia mint coins. Maybe not accurate, but it works.

On an only slightly related topic… While discussing mint marks at last weekends coin expo my friend asserted that Chocolate coins should have a mark from the ‘Chocolate Mint” and since “C” was already used for Charlotte NC he proposed “CH” as the Chocolate Mint Mark.