Draped Bust Dimes
The dime did not exist until 1796. Although the Coinage Act of 1792 had authorized a ten-cent piece as part of the decimal monetary system, and although the Mint had been producing copper cents and…
All articles
85 articles · newest first · page 5 of 8
Liberty Head Gold $5 Half Eagles (Coronet)
Christian Gobrecht introduced his Coronet Liberty Head design on the eagle in 1838, adapted it to the half eagle in 1839, and completed the gold series when the quarter eagle adopted it in 1840. The…
Seated Liberty Quarters
The Seated Liberty quarter that appeared in 1838 carried a design Christian Gobrecht had been developing since at least 1835, first applied to the pattern silver dollars of 1836 and then adapted for…
Classic Head Gold $2.5 Quarter Eagles
When Congress passed the Act of June 28, 1834 reducing the gold content of all gold coins, the intended effect was immediate: gold coins would no longer be worth more melted than spent, so they would…
Trade Dollars
The Coinage Act of 1873 authorized a new denomination for export, not for domestic use: a silver coin heavier than the standard dollar, carrying its weight and fineness printed directly on the…
Washington Quarters (American Women)
The obverse of every American Women Quarter carries a portrait of George Washington facing right, originally composed and sculpted by Laura Gardin Fraser in 1931 as her submission for the 1932…
Two-Cent Pieces
By the end of 1862, essentially all United States government coinage had left circulation. Gold and silver were hoarded first. The Flying Eagle and Indian Head copper-nickel cents that followed had…
Indian Princess (Small Head) Gold Dollars
Mint Director James Ross Snowden's solution to the Type 1 gold dollar's size complaint was straightforward: widen the coin without changing its weight, and redesign both sides to suit the new…
Draped Bust $2.5 Quarter Eagles
The Coinage Act of April 2, 1792 authorized three gold denominations: the eagle ($10), the half eagle ($5), and the quarter eagle ($2.50). Half eagles and eagles entered production in 1795; the…
Seated Liberty Half Dimes
Mint Director Robert M. Patterson, who took office in July 1835, moved quickly to improve the silver coinage. He found the Capped Bust design insufficiently dignified for a maturing republic and…
St. Gaudens Gold $20 Double Eagles
In December 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt wrote to his Treasury Secretary: "I think our coinage is artistically of atrocious hideousness. Would it be possible... to employ a man like…
Draped Bust Half Cents
After the last Liberty Cap half cents were struck from 1797-dated dies sometime around 1799, the denomination disappeared for two years. No formal decision ended it. The Mint simply stopped making it…