Philadelphia Mint Releases 2017 “P” Penny

Coin collectors always look forward to the new year, when fresh coins are rolled out. The numismatic community got a surprise this month when they noticed something a little different about certain 2017 pennies. Billions of pennies struck at the Philadelphia mint are emblazoned with a small “P” just under where the year is embossed. It’s a tiny letter that has the coin collecting community in a stir.

The Philadelphia Mint issued the commemorative penny.

The “P” was first noticed by Terry Granstaff, a coin collector who received the coin during a transaction at a Black Mountain, North Carolina gas station. Baffled by the appearance of the coin, Granstaff took to the Internet and posted pictures of the penny on the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) online discussion board. The images caused a stir there, up until the U.S. Treasury confirmed the veracity of the coin.

It turns out that the penny, which is officially named the 2017-P Lincoln cent, was released to celebrate the 225th anniversary of the Philadelphia mint, which takes place on April 2nd. The Treasury opted not to make a big deal out of the coin’s release, instead waiting to see how long it took the numismatic community to notice. The “P”-marked coins were shipped at the beginning of the month for general distribution.

Experts say that the new penny is unlikely to become a collector’s piece owing to the sheer volume of cents that the mint produces. “I don’t think this will have much effect on the collector market since the Mint produces billions of cents for circulation,” says Matt Crane, marketing director at L&C Coins in Los Alamitos, California, to CoinWeek.com. Despite that, he thinks that the cent will generate interest in the coin-collecting community. Such surprise projects as the one undertaken by the Mint, he says, are part of what makes the hobby so exciting.