The $5 Liberty head gold coin holds a distinct honor in American Numismatics as being the only style coin minted out of all of the original 7 United States mints. Collecting a coin from each of these mints makes an interesting collection.

The Philadelphia mint was the original US mint. It began operations in 1793 and began minting gold in 1795. The Liberty head $5 gold coin was made between the years 1839-1907. The Philadelphia mint, being the original mint, has no mintmark on the coins. The Philadelphia mint coin will be the easiest of the seven to obtain.

The branch mint at Charlotte North Carolina preceded the Dahlonega Georgia mint by just a couple of months. These are the two scarcest mints for the series. These mints also have the distinction of only minting gold coins during their existence. 

The Charlotte mint is designated by the “C” mintmark. This mint produced the Liberty $5 pieces from 1839 through 1861. The mint never reopened after the Civil War. It, along with Dahlonega (in 1839 only) had the mintmark appear on the obverse (front) of the coin over the date. Afterwards you will find the mintmarks on the reverse (back) of the coin under the eagle.

The mint at Dahlonega is represented by a “D” mintmark. It also produced coins from 1839 through 1861 and, like the Charlotte mint, did not continue operation after the war. As you will see later, the “D” mintmark also was used by the Denver mint. You cannot mistake the two as Denver did not begin operations until 1906.

New Orleans was the next city to host a branch mint. Their identification is the “O” mintmark. They produced the half eagles from 1840 through 1894. This will be a scarce mint to obtain for your collection.

San Francisco was the next mint to come into existence first minting these coins in 1854. Their production continued through 1906 when the famous San Francisco earthquake struck. This will be a very easy mintmark to obtain for your collection.

Another western mint, Carson City Nevada, began producing these coins in 1870 and continued through 1893. The Carson City mint is the only one in US history to be represented with a dual mintmark, “CC”. This is a popular mintmark to collect and it will be the most expensive after the C and D issues.

The final mintmark needed for your collection will be the aforementioned Denver, “D”. These were only produced for two years at the end of the series, 1906-07. Don’t let the limited number of years they were issued intimidate you as this will be an easy mintmark to obtain.

Good luck with your collection of the “Lucky Seven” mintmarks on the $5 Liberty head half eagle gold coin.

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