What does the date on the coin stand for?

Answer 1

Usually, the date on a coin refers to the year in which it was produced.

In the US, this is so, although there are a few exceptions. Bicentennial quarters, half dollars and dollars were produced in 1975 and 1976, but in both cases carry the dual date "1776-1976". Several of the state quarters also carry a second year, usually the year in which the state in question joined the United States, as well as the year of production.

Among non-US Coins, the date is usually the year of production as well, although there have been many cases in which coins produced have a "frozen date" - the most extreme example of which is the silver Maria Theresa thaler which since 1780 has been produced (and is still produced today) with that date. Spanish coins between about 1949 and 1982 bore two dates - the year of authorization (which appeared to be the coin's date) and the actual year of production (which was usually written in tiny type on a star on the back of the coin). And of course many countries use a different dating system even when the date refers to the year of production - for example, many middle-eastern countries use the year in the Islamic calendar, and Japan uses the year of the current emperor's reign (so each time an emperor dies, the year on new coins produced is reset to the year "1" and bears the name of the new ruler).