Draped Bust Gold $5 Half Eagles
The Mint Act of April 2, 1792 authorized a gold coinage, but the federal government lacked the capital to begin operations promptly, and silver took precedence when production finally commenced in…
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Franklin Half Dollars
Mint Director Nellie Tayloe Ross had long wanted a Franklin coin and, after seeing Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock's portrait of the Founding Father on a 1933 medal, she asked him to prepare designs…
Liberty Head Gold $2.5 Quarter Eagles (Coronet)
Christian Gobrecht introduced the Coronet or Liberty Head design on the eagle ($10) in 1838 and on the quarter eagle in 1840. Liberty faces left wearing a coronet inscribed LIBERTY, her hair drawn…
Seated Liberty Dollars
When the Seated Liberty dollar entered regular production in 1840, it retained the Gobrecht obverse in a slightly modified form: Liberty seated on a rock, a shield inscribed LIBERTY beside her, the…
Capped Bust Half Dimes
The half dime vanished from American commerce after 1805 and did not return for twenty-four years. The most plausible explanation offered by numismatic scholars, including Breen, is that banks found…
Capped Bust Half Dollars
John Reich joined the Philadelphia Mint as assistant engraver around 1807, and his Capped Bust portrait was struck on the half dollar before it appeared on any other denomination. Liberty faces left,…
Barber Quarters (Liberty Head)
Charles Barber designed the quarter, dime, and half dollar simultaneously in 1891 and 1892, producing a set of denominations that shared an obverse Liberty portrait while each denomination carried…
Kennedy Half Dollars
President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. Congress authorized a memorial coin within weeks. The Mint was able to move with unusual speed because Gilroy Roberts, the ninth Chief…
Buffalo Nickels
Theodore Roosevelt's conviction that American coins were artistically unworthy of the republic had set off a transformation that began with his private correspondence with sculptor Augustus…
Barber Half Dollars (Liberty Head)
The Mint Act of September 26, 1890 authorized coin design changes after 25 years of continuous use, making the dime, quarter, and half dollar eligible for redesign in 1891. Mint Director Edward Leech…
Liberty Head Gold $20 Double Eagles (Coronet)
The Act of March 3, 1849, signed by President James K. Polk on the final day of his administration, authorized the gold dollar and the double eagle simultaneously, both as instruments for converting…
Sacagawea & Native American Dollars
The United States Dollar Coin Act of 1997, signed as part of the 50 States Commemorative Coin Program Act in December 1997, authorized a new golden dollar to replace the Susan B. Anthony dollar. The…