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West Point: the W mint mark
W is West Point, New York. A bullion and commemorative mint. A W on a modern Eagle is a mint mark, not a rare 19th-century branch.
W is West Point, New York. The US Bullion Depository there started striking commemoratives in 1973 and became an official mint in 1988. It makes a lot of the modern bullion and collector coins people actually buy new.
A W on an American Silver Eagle or a Gold Eagle is a mint mark. Some years the burnished or proof W is a collected modern. Some years it is just how that product was made. 2026 Eagles. 1996 Silver Eagle is a Philadelphia key, not a W story.
What W is not
It is not Carson City. It is not a Civil War mint. It is not automatically worth a slab fee. When to slab.
West Point also struck coins without a mint mark for circulation in some periods. Unmarked does not mean fake. Where is the mint mark?.
At the counter
We treat W Eagles as modern bullion plus whatever premium that exact product has. A proof W in the original box is a product. A beat raw W that spent time in a cup is an ounce. Proof vs uncirculated vs bullion. Monster boxes.
Continue in the coin and money library. Related visitor guides: for shop visitors.