World Coins Manufactured by Mints of the United States

By the Act of January 29, 1874, Congress authorized the United States Mint to manufacture coinage for foreign countries, as long as the Mint had the capacity after its US coinage obligations, and the other countries paid for the expense. The Venezuelan one centavo and 2-1/2 centavos of 1876 were the first coins produced under this authorization. The last regularly-issued foreign coins manufactured by the US Mint were 1983-dated Panamanian coins, and the only more-recent foreign coin to date was produced by the Philadelphia Mint in 2000 as part of a two-coin Leif Erikson commemorative set issued jointly with Iceland.

In all, from 1876 to 2000, the Philadelphia, San Francisco, New Orleans, Denver and West Point mints produced approximately 10.7 trillion coins for 41 foreign countries. The issues include gold, silver, copper-nickel, bronze, and various base-metal coins; holed, hexagonal, and scallop-shaped coins; and even a few coins with P, D and S mint marks. Although a large number of these issues were produced in quantity, many have been lost to time and are hard to find nice, if at all. The sheer variety of coins produced should provide a lifetime of collecting enjoyment.

Notes: This set has bonuses. Please see the Set Composition for a listing.