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Coin History of the United States
U.S. coins have changed
many times since the Coinage Act of 1792, which
adopted the dollar as the standard monetary
unit.
Silver dollars have been
minted and issued at various times since 1794.
Dollar coins were discontinued in 1935, and then
resumed in 1971 with the introduction of the
silverless Eisenhower dollar. The silverless
Susan B. Anthony coin, honoring the famed
women's suffrage advocate, replaced the
Eisenhower dollar in 1979. A new dollar coin
authorized in 1997 replaced the Susan B. Anthony
coins in 2000. The new coin depicts Sacagawea,
the Native American woman whose presence was
essential to the success of the Lewis and Clark
expedition. The coin has a copper core clad in
an alloy of copper, zinc, manganese, and nickel,
which gives the coin a golden color.
Half-dollars virtually
disappeared from circulation following the
introduction, in 1964, of the Kennedy
half-dollar. Despite the fact that huge
quantities were produced, the half-dollar
remained scarce in general circulation through
1970. Silverless halves first appeared in 1971.
Other coin denominations in
common use today are the 25-cent, 10-cent,
five-cent, and one-cent pieces, familiarly known
as the quarter, dime, nickel, and penny.
The composition of U.S.
coins has changed considerably over the past few
decades. Because of a growing worldwide silver
shortage, the Coinage Act of 1965 authorized a
change in the composition of dimes, quarters,
and half-dollars, which had been 90 percent
silver. Silver was eliminated from the dime and
the quarter. The half-dollar's silver content
was reduced to 40 percent and, after 1970, was
eliminated altogether.
In 1981 Congress authorized
a change in the penny's composition, abandoning
the 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc alloy
used for decades. The one-cent piece is now
copper-plated zinc—97.5 percent zinc and 2.5
percent copper. The old and new pennies look
virtually identical, but the new coin is about
19 percent lighter.
U.S. coin denominations
used in the past were the half-cent, two-cent,
three-cent, and 20-cent pieces, as well as a
small silver coin called a half-dime. Gold coins
in denominations of $1, $2.50 ("Quarter Eagle"),
$3, $5 ("Half Eagle"), $10 ("Eagle"), and $20
("Double Eagle") were used from 1795 until 1933.
The Mint
The U.S. Mint, which makes
all U.S. coins, was established by Congress in
1792 and became an operating bureau of the
Treasury Department in 1873.
The Philadelphia Mint has
been in continuous operation since 1792. The
Denver Mint began its coinage operations in
1906. The West Point, New York, and San
Francisco Mints gained official Mint status in
1988. Originally an assay office, the San
Francisco Mint is the primary production
facility for proof coins. The West Point Mint,
once used exclusively as a bullion depository,
is now the Mint's chief producer of gold coins.
U.S. coins typically bear a
mint mark showing which mint produced them.
Coins minted in Philadelphia bear a P or no mint
mark; those minted in Denver, a D; in San
Francisco, an S; and in West Point, a W.
Although the Coinage Act of 1965 specified that
no mint marks would be used for five years,
Congress authorized in late 1967 that mint marks
be resumed. The marks reappeared on regular
coinage in 1968.
Several branch mints are no
longer in operation. These mints were located in
Carson City, Nevada (mint mark, CC); Charlotte,
North Carolina (C); Dahlonega, Georgia (D); and
New Orleans, Louisiana (O).
Design
The Director of the Mint
selects designs for U.S. coins with the approval
of the Secretary of the Treasury, although
Congress may prescribe a coin design. A design
may not be changed more often than every 25
years unless Congress determines otherwise.
Emblems
All of the U.S. coins
currently minted portray past U.S. Presidents.
They are the Lincoln one-cent piece, adopted in
1909; the 25-cent piece portraying Washington,
first minted in 1932; the five-cent piece
honoring Jefferson, adopted in 1938; the
Franklin D. Roosevelt dime, introduced in 1946;
and the Kennedy half-dollar, which appeared in
1964.
The 50 States Quarters
Program Act of 1997 provides for the redesign of
the reverse side of quarters to depict emblems
of each of the 50 states. Each year from 1999
through 2008, coins commemorating five states,
with designs created by the states, will be
issued in the order in which the states signed
the Constitution or joined the Union. These
quarters will be in general circulation, but the
Mint will also sell sets of collector edition
proof, uncirculated, and silver proof coins.
"In God We Trust"
The phrase was first used
on the U.S. two-cent coin in 1864. It appeared
on the nickel, quarter, half-dollar, and silver
dollar and on the $5, $10, and $20 gold pieces
in 1866, on the penny in 1909, and on the dime
in 1916. Dropped from the nickel in 1883, the
phrase reappeared on the nickel in 1938. All
U.S. coins now issued bear the motto.
The Minting Process
The first step in minting
coins is the production of strips of metal in
the proper thickness. (The U.S. Mint buys these
strips, for all coins except pennies, from
commercial suppliers.) Strips for pennies are
zinc. Strips for nickels are an alloy of 75
percent copper and 25 percent nickel. Clad
dimes, quarters, half-dollars, and dollars are
produced from three layers of metal fused
together; the outer layers are the same alloy
used for nickels, and the core is copper.
The metal strips are fed
into blanking presses, which cut round blanks (planchets)
the approximate size of the finished coin. (The
blanks for pennies, made of zinc, are coated
with copper before going on to the next step.
Commercial companies provide the planchets for
pennies to the Mint.) The blanks are run through
annealing furnaces to soften them and then
through tumbling barrels, rotating cylinders
that contain chemical solutions to clean and
burnish the metal. Next, the blanks are washed
and put into drying machines. Then the blanks go
through milling or "upsetting" machines, which
produce the raised (upset) rim.
Blanks next proceed to the
stamping or coining press. The blank is held in
place by a ring, or collar, as it is struck
under tremendous pressure. Pennies require about
40 tons of pressure, and the larger coins
require proportionately more. Upper and lower
dies stamp the design on both sides of the coin
at the same time. Grooves inside the ring
holding the blank form the "reeding" or ridges
on the rim of finished coins, except for pennies
and nickels, which have smooth rims.
Commemorative Coins
Coins to commemorate
American people, places, events, and
institutions are authorized by special acts of
Congress and manufactured in limited quantities.
Commemorative coins, which may be gold, silver,
or clad, usually sell at a premium, so they
seldom circulate as regular coin.
Legislation specifies that
commemorative coin programs must operate at no
net cost to taxpayers. Surcharges raised from
the sale of commemorative coins are designated
for a specific purpose or for reducing the
national debt.
The first commemorative
coin was minted in 1892 to help finance the
World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Since
that time many other commemorative coins have
been issued.
Recent commemorative coins
have included 1996 Centennial Olympic coins as
well as coins honoring Franklin Delano Roosevelt
and Jackie Robinson in 1997; Robert F. Kennedy
and Crispus Attucks, an African-American
Revolutionary War patriot, in 1998; and Dolley
Madison in 1999.
The enactment of Booker T. Washington Coin
[Public Law 151 – 82d Congress]
[Chapter 408 – 1st Session]
[H. R. 3176]
AN ACT
To amend the Act entitled
“An Act to authorize the coinage of 50-cent
pieces to commemorate the life and perpetuate
the ideals and teachings of Booker T.
Washington”, approved August 7, 1946.
Be it enacted by the
Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
That the Act entitled “An Act to authorize the
coinage of 50-cent pieces to commemorate the
life and perpetuate the ideals and teachings of
Booker T. Washington”, approved August 7, 1946,
is amended to read as follows: “That in order to
commemorate the lives and perpetuate the ideals
and teachings of Booker T. Washington and George
Washington Carver, two great Americans, there
shall be coined by the Director of the Mint (1)
a number of silver 50-cent pieces equal to the
number of 50-cent pieces authorized by the Act
of August 7, 1946, (60 Stat. 863), but not yet
coined on the date of the enactment of this Act,
plus (2) an additional number of silver 50-cent
pieces equal to the number of 50-cent pieces
coined under such Act of August 7, 1946, and
returned to the Treasury in accordance with
section 5 of this Act. The silver 50-cent pieces
authorized by this section shall be of standard
size, weight, and fineness, and of a special
appropriate design to be fixed by the Director
of the Mint with the approval of the Secretary
of the Treasury; but the United States shall not
be subject to the expense of making the models
for master dies or other preparations for the
coinage authorized by this section, or to the
expense of making any changes in design which
may be necessitated by reason of the enactment
of this Act.
“SEC. 2. The coins
authorized by the first section of this Act
shall be issued at par, and only upon the
request of the Booker T. Washington Birthplace
Memorial (established at the birthplace of
Booker T. Washington in Franklin County,
Virginia) and the George Washington Carver
National Monument Foundation (established at the
birthplace of George Washington Carver in
Diamond, Missouri).
“SEC. 3. The coins
authorized by the first section of this Act
shall be issued in such numbers, and at such
times, as shall be requested by the Booker T.
Washington Birthplace Memorial and the George
Washington Carver National Monument Foundation,
and upon payment to the United States of the
face value of such coins, except that none of
such coins shall be issued after August 7, 1954.
SEC. 4. The coins
authorized by the first section of this Act may
be disposed of at par or at a premium by banks
or trust companies selected by the Booker T.
Washington Birthplace Memorial and the George
Washington Carver National Monument Foundation,
and all proceeds therefore shall be used, in the
manner decided upon by the Booker T. Washington
Birthplace Memorial and the George Washington
Carver National Monument Foundation to oppose
the spread of communism among Negroes in the
interest of the national defense.
“SEC. 5. (a) From and after
the date of the enactment of this Act, no
50-cent pieces shall be coined under the Act of
August 7,1946.
AN ACT
All 68 Stat. 336.
To amend section 3528 of
the Revised Statutes, as amended, relating to
the purchase of metal for minor coins of the
United States.
Be it enacted by the
Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
That section 3528 of the Revised Statutes, as
amended (U. S. C., title 31, sec. 340), is
hereby further amended by striking out
“$1,000,000” and inserting in lieu thereof
“$2,000,000”.
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