Chuck writes: I have a coin that looks like a penny. On one side is a shield with scales and a key in it and reads United States Treasury. On the other side is a big “P” and Uncirculated and Philadelphia. There is no date or coin value. What is it?
You have a “Mint Set Token”. This token is struck on a cent blank and is included in United States Mint Sets each year from sometime in the 1980’s to the present. There are two types, one with a “P” which accompanies the Philadelphia Mint coin package of the current year and one with a “D” that accompanies the Denver Mint coin package of the current year. Both of these packages make one Mint set. The tokens themselves have no particular value.
You can purchase current year Mint Sets from the United States Mint.