Capped Bust Quarters
The Capped Bust quarter appeared in 1815 as the first quarter struck since 1807, repeating the denomination's established pattern of prolonged absences. The quarter had disappeared once before, from…
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Classic Head Large Cents
Mint Director Robert Patterson brought John Reich to the Philadelphia Mint in April 1807 with a clear mandate: redesign the coinage. Reich was German-born, had paid for his Atlantic passage through a…
Flying Eagle Cents
By the early 1850s the large copper cent was failing by every practical measure. The Mint was losing money on each one: one hundred cents cost more than a dollar in copper to produce. The coin…
Morgan Dollars
The Bland-Allison Act of February 28, 1878, passed over President Hayes's veto, required the Treasury to purchase between two and four million dollars' worth of silver per month and coin it into…
Liberty Cap Half Cents
The half cent was authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792 and entered production in July 1793, by which point the Mint had already been striking Chain cents and Wreath cents for several months. The…
Shield Nickels
The Shield nickel did not arrive as an artistic triumph. It arrived as a solution to a crisis, designed under time pressure by an engraver who had been blocked from his preferred approach, hammered…
Indian Princess (Large Head) Gold Dollars
The Type 2 Indian Princess gold dollar had failed because its obverse relief was too high; metal that should have filled the reverse die was instead displaced through the deep recesses of the obverse…
Classic Head Half Cents
John Reich paid for his passage from Germany to the United States through a period of indentured service, which was one way a skilled tradesman without capital made the crossing in the early…
Presidential Dollars
Congress authorized the Presidential $1 Coin Program through Pub. L. 109-145, enacted December 22, 2005. The legislation's sponsors pointed directly to the 50 State Quarters program as justification:…
Draped Bust Quarters
The Coinage Act of 1792 authorized the quarter dollar, but the denomination did not appear until 1796, four years after the Mint began operations. When it did arrive, it carried the Draped Bust…
Liberty Head Gold Dollars
The Act of March 3, 1849 responding to California gold added two denominations to the federal coinage simultaneously: the one-dollar piece and the twenty-dollar double eagle. Chief Engraver James B.…
Barber Dimes (Liberty Head)
The Seated Liberty dime had been circulating since 1837 and attracting criticism for years before anything was done about it. By 1887, Mint Director James P. Kimball was noting in his annual reports…