Fun Facts that few people know General Facts

The Star Spangled Banner

In the days of the screw press (before 1836) the planchet press was similar as well.  It was effectively a “screw punch”. A long arm was swung to drive the punch down through the strip of coin metal to make the blanks one at a time. Before this time, the blanks were cast, or even cut from the strip with metal shears, then adjusted for weight and circularity one at a time.   

When an engraver made a simple mistake in his work, he could make a “plugged die” to save his work. The offending letter was drilled out, and a new plug of metal was inserted there, which could be engraved with the correct letter or design element. Not often done today, this was much more common in the years before 1836, when dies were very labor intensive to make. This process was also sometimes used to change a date digit, but more often, the old digit was ground down, and the new one stamped over it, accounting for the many overdate varieties found in early coins.

“Plug” is an older word for “hub”, which is the piece that is “plugged” into a softened piece of steel to form the die, which is then hardened before it is used to strike the actual coins. A plug or hub has the design in relief (just like the coin does), and makes the die, which has the design incuse (or detail inward). Striking the planchet against this, with tons of pressure, makes the metal flow into this cavity, and forms the actual coin.   

The mints all used coal-fired furnaces until about 1900 to melt the gold and silver to make the correct alloys.  Then, they converted to Gas and Electric furnaces for melting the ores. Around this same time, electric motors were used to drive the minting equipment, replacing the steam engine for power.

It took about 3 years for the Philadelphia Mint to produce its first million coins with the equipment available in the late 1700’s (mostly screw presses powered by two men each). They worked 11 hour days for 6 days per week. The current Philadelphia Mint can produce 1 million coins now in only 30 minutes! This is a 20,000+ increase in productivity, and the coins are of vastly better quality and uniformity.

During the Civil War

During the Civil War, three of the four operating mints were in Confederate territories. All but the Philadelphia Mint fell into Confederate hands. The mints at Dahlonega, Georgia, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Charlotte, North Carolina all fell into Confederate hands, and US coin production was halted as they were either closed or used to mint Confederate coins instead. This exacerbated the coin shortage enormously during the years 1861 to 1865.  

 The Civil War Tokens were banned by the Mint in 1864, since many merchants were refusing to accept them as cents – even their own issues. The copper in them was not worth the full cent. But then the Indian Cent COPIED these tokens – and did not have a full cent of copper in it either! 

In the “border states” of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, the Spanish coins were circulating with Americanized names – the common slang of the day. The half-real was called the “fip”, which was short for “five-penny-bit”, and the real was called the “levy”, which was short for “eleven-penny-bit”. The actual values were : half-real worth 6 ¼ cents, and the real worth 12 ½ cents. However these were usually discounted to 5 cents the half-real and 11 cents (or sometimes only 10 cents) the real. It was not until 1857 that the Spanish coins were totally out of circulation.

Two Bits a Quarter History

Ever wonder where the term “two bits a quarter” came from? It has a long and interesting history. The term “bit” for half a quarter (or 1/8 of a dollar) actually originated in October of 1683 in Colonial records of Pennsylvania. The spelling then was “bitt” and it meant a Spanish Reale, the 1/8 division of the Spanish Milled Dollar. This was an actual coin, and not a piece of the larger dollar. This usage pre-dates the cutting of the Spanish Milled Dollars into 8ths by nearly 100 years, which did not happen until the late 1700’s. When this cut money circulated, its name was actually “sharpshin”, and usually found in ¼ and 1/8 sizes – the equivalent of our quarter and half-quarter. Only later did the usage of “bit” and “two bits” become common for these cut pieces used in the US. The term “sharpshin” was used, and more widely understood, and was in common usage from the West Indies to Missouri (the western extent of the country then) in the US. The actual term was first seen in print as a word in 1787, and believed to have been coined somewhere in the Original Colonies on the East Coast. This term, sharpshin, was derived from the term “sharp” – as in cutting through pocket or purse – and “shin” — as a shortened form of “shinplaster”, the term given to worthless paper money only good for use as stocking or boot stuffing. But by the 1840’s, the more common term in use was “bit” and “two bits” – hence the “two bits a quarter” phrase still heard and understood today – nearly two centuries later. 

The dime was called the “short bit” and was often given in change for a one bit purchase with a two bit coin. The actual one bit coin was known as the “long bit”. This was before 1850, when there were no small coins such as the 2 cent and 3 cent pieces. Public opinion was that there should be a coin to make correct change. So there were plans around 1850 to actually make a 2 ½ cent coin. This would have allowed correct change for the 1 bit coin when a dime purchase was made with it. However, these plans were soon scrapped, and it was decided instead to phase out the use of the Spanish coins. Then, the 2 cent and 3 cent coins were issued to alleviate the lack of small change, with the 3 cent being made in both silver and copper-nickel composition.

Fort Knox History

Fort Knox never became a Mint. Built in 1936, it was our principal Gold Bullion repository for about 50 years. In 1937 they had 445,501 gold bars weighing 157,820,192 Troy ounces, which were brought by train from the United States Assay Office in New York, and valued at about $5.52 Billion at that time. The value was in excess of $6 billion in the late 1970’s, and is now approaching $12 billion as gold approaches $1000 per ounce. However, when the gold was moved from there to West Point, New York in the early 1980’s, this new location also became a Mint soon afterwards. This gold is now stored in an underground vault, deep underneath New York, for stabilization of the economy of the US, and security for world trade. However, this is minuscule compared to the actual National Debt, which is in the trillions of dollars. But it gives a sense of security that does keep the economy stable.

Backing Currency With Precious Metals

Until 1914, there was enough gold to back all of the circulating currency — at the 100% level. From 1900 to 1914, any citizen could demand full payment of any Treasury Note in either silver or gold. Then, in 1914, the Federal Reserve System, of 12 regional banks, was created – and the currency only backed at the 40% level. You could still demand 100% be paid in silver coin, but the banks did not have to pay more than 40% in gold, and the other 60% in silver. Then, in 1933, the US went completely off the gold standard, and all circulating gold was recalled. Silver certificates were still payable in silver, but Gold certificates were now also only redeemable for silver. Then, in 1968, even the silver certificates could not be redeemed for silver any longer – only for current circulating (clad) coins – since by then we were off the silver standard as well (in 1965).

The currency is currently backed by government bonds, which are promises to pay backed by the government. Only if the US were to no longer be a recognized nation could these fail – so the currency is secure while the US is a country respected by other countries. We are respected enough in the world economy that many indicators of value are based on the American Dollar, although the Euro (currency of the European Bloc of Nations) is making serious inroads as a well-respected currency as well.

The stabilizing influence on value – and the currency — is actually the land, resources, and technology of the US – its actual assets. The total value of the assets of the US still far exceeds the National Debt. 

Milling on Coins

“Milling” is the process used to make the raised rims on planchets which will become coins. This is the difference between a Type I and a Type II planchet – the second has been through the “upsetting mill” to have this done.  This term was also applied to the process of putting reeding on the edges of coins, also done separately from the striking of the coins, but this usage is obsolete, since the reeding on coins has been done as part of the strike on the smaller coins since as early as 1828, and with all coins by 1836.

Clad Coinage

Most people would say that the use of clad coinage was original with the 1965 US coins, but they would be wrong by over 1200 years! The Greeks instituted, and successfully used the idea around A.D. 700, when they issued silver clad copper coinage.

When first made by the US in 1965, the clad coinage was a literal “bomb”. Until 1967, when it was found to be too expensive, the process used to bond the inner silver layer to the outer copper layers was “explosive bonding”. A thin layer of explosive was deposited on the sandwiched layers, then this was detonated to drive the three layers together. But this process was replaced by pressure bonding in 1967, and this is the process used today to make our copper nickel clad coinage.

Morse Code and Braille on Coins

Dit dit dit dah! There are is only one time known that Morse code has appeared on a circulating token. That was on the S W Chubbuck, Utica New York token from the telegraph company. This was given to telegraphers, and had the entire Morse code printed on one side (and their advertising on the other side) – presumably to help them remember the code. 

The only time to date that Braille was used on a coin was on the Alabama State Quarter, issued in the spring of 2003. This coin honored Helen Keller, a blind and deaf woman who overcame those great odds to become a great writer, college graduate, and excellent statesperson. She was born in Alabama, in the late 1800’s, and her name is spelled out in reduced size Braille on the reverse of that coin.

A Strong Reason for Small and Large Date Cents

The Mints try to change the fonts on the dates of our coins nearly every decade, usually at the start of the zero year. The font on a 1919 is different from a 1920, and a 1929 from a 1930, but not markedly so. This is to keep the coins from being dull and boring through long periods of no other design change. Most years, this made little difference, But in 1960, they experimented with both large and small date sizes, settling on the large date style for the coins from late 1960 through 1968. (The entire design was changed and strengthened in 1969, so this coin’s font is markedly different.)  So we have 1960 small and large date coins from both the Philadelphia and Denver mints. Then, in 1970, they changed the fonts again, and again used both large and small sizes. However, only the San Francisco coin comes in both sizes. This time, they settled on the smaller size (with the digits level across the top) for subsequent coins. In 1982, both mints had large dates in the earlier part of the year, and the small date later that year. The small date set the font for that decade, since it was clearer, and more easily read. In 1990, the date has remained of similar font, as has the font on the 2000 coins. However, there are still some small differences to keep the design fresh. The font on the 2010 is different from the 2009 as well, and sets the style for the date until 2020. 

Lifetimes of Some Coinage Dies

As many as 500,000 Indian cents could be struck with a single pair of dies before they broke and had to be replaced. 

However, only about 5,000 Lincoln Cents could be struck in the early 1960’s with the proof dies. These had to have extra pressure and multiple strikes to make the mirror proof coins – and also had to have perfect details – so they were retired as soon as any details were the least bit worn.

Sometimes a retired proof die was then used to strike business strike coins, and then it had customary longer life, since the pressure was less, and details did not have to be perfect for a business strike.

 Nickels have the shortest die life of any business strike coin, with the record low being the shield nickel of 1866. This coin had a die life of only 10,000 coins. 

The Morgan Dollar die life approached 400,000 coins per die pair, but many die breaks did occur in this series before the dies were discarded.

It is believed that because of the doubling in the hubbing of the Doubled die cents, that these dies wore out quickly, only producing around 20,000 strikes.

Obverse and Reverse Changes Not Always Concurrent  

There have been several instances of a coin keeping the same obverse as the reverse changed, or keeping the same reverse as the obverse changed. The Lincoln cent is the winner in this category, with the same obverse being found on FOUR different series — with SEVEN different reverses! It is found with:

1) Wheat Reverse from 1909 to 1958

2) Memorial Reverse from 1959 to 2008

3) Birthplace Reverse for the first of 4 reverses in 2009 for the Lincoln Bicentennial

4) Early Years Reverse for the second of 4 reverses in 2009

5) Professional Years Reverse for the third of 4 reverses in 2009

6)  Presidency Years Reverse as the last of 4 reverses in 2009

7) Union Shield Reverse in 2010

If you count the minor variation of the VDB on the 1909 coin, this can be considered eight different reverses for the Lincoln Cent.

However the all-time winner of number of reverses found with the same obverse goes to the Washington Quarters of 1999 to 2021. These have only THREE different series, but include 112 different reverses!! These are as follows:

• Fifty States Quarters of 1999 to 2008 were issued 5 per year for 10 years, giving 50 different reverses
• Six Territorial Quarters were issued in 2009 making six more reverse designs.
•  Fifty-six State Parks quarters are begun to be issued in 2010, with the program culminating in 2021. Five issued each year, with a single one issued the final year.

This totals an amazing 112 different reverses with the same Washington obverse!

Other obverse and reverse changes that did not both happen at the same time include: 

• The reverse of the Gobrecht Dollar of 1836 to 1838 and the obverse of the Flying Eagle Cent from 1856 to 1858 are basically the same.
• The Flying Eagle Cent and the 1859 Indian Cent have the same reverse of an open wreath, but different obverses. 
• The Indian cent had no shield on the reverse in 1859 only, then from 1860 on, the reverse has a shield at the top, making for two different reverses with the same obverse.
• The Seated Liberty dime and the Barber dime have the same reverse, but different obverses.
•  The Trade dollar and the 20 cent piece have the same reverse with different obverses.
• The Eisenhower dollar and the Anthony dollar have the same reverse with different obverses.
• The Sacagawea golden dollar has the same obverse, but with several reverse designs being changed yearly.
• Jefferson nickels have had some obverse/reverse re-pairings and changes in recent years as well.

The Red Quarter Caper Solved

If you have ever seen a quarter painted red (or a shamrock pasted on a dollar, or some similar addition to a coin), what you see is an alteration outside the mint, for a special use or purpose. This is done to the coins to advertise a particular business (often a bar), or to make a “token” for use to get special privileges at that bar (such as a drink at a reduced price). One of the best uses of the “red quarter” is to keep the jukebox playing to stimulate business, and promote even more use of the jukebox. It was discovered by establishments that a silent jukebox often stayed silent – but a playing one did not go silent nearly as quickly once playing. So the employees were given “red quarters” to feed the jukebox if it stopped playing – and most of the patrons fed the jukebox soon after to hear their favorite songs. Most jukeboxes use quarters, so that is the coin chosen. At the end of the day, when the money-box in the jukebox was emptied, they knew the red quarters were their own money, which they took out to re-use again. Then they were allowed a percentage of the rest of the quarters from the jukebox vendor. Both the bar and the jukebox vendor benefited from this, so it makes for a lot of red quarters that mostly stayed with the bar. However, some employees did not turn in their un-used red quarters at the end of the day, and spent them instead, accounting for the ones you occasionally find in circulation. The color red was chosen, because it is usually nail polish that is used – and that is the most common and cheapest color to buy in large quantity for painting dozens of quarters daily.

Watch Out For These

Any rare date/mint combo, since many quite excellent counterfeits exist. Have these authenticated by an expert, or a major grading service.

Underweight or thin coins. Acid treatment can make the clad layer in a coin quite thin, and even leave a reeded gap on the edge. A penny can be reduced to paper thin, and still retain most of the design on both sides. A genuine thin planchet strike will have missing design elements, since there would not be enough metal to fill the dies to the highest parts of the design. 

Coins missing reeding on the edges. Most likely, this is done outside the mint. If the coin is larger than normal in diameter, with stretched letters around the rim, it could be a genuine mint error, called a broadstrike, which is indeed worth a premium. When the coin is struck without a collar, the reeding will not be on the coin, since the collar adds this to the edge. However, most of these found are of normal diameter, or slightly smaller. These are sometimes found because heavy slot machine use can wear off the reeding. Hammering or grinding the edge can also obliterate most of the reeding, but usually traces can be found by examining with a magnifying glass. 

Coins with incuse designs overprinted on both sides. These are created outside the mint by stacking three coins, then hammering the pile. The one in the middle gets some of the design from the outer two driven into its surfaces, looking somewhat like a double strike. But the images are reversed and incuse. A real double strike has the same design on it twice – but the second image is usually off center, and always raised above the coin surface.  A brockage, which does have an incuse image, will have blurred edges to the second image, while a “sandwich” fake will have fairly sharp edges. If in doubt, ask an expert to authenticate.

The Phrygian or Liberty Cap

The Phrygian Cap, found on the Seated Liberty coins on a pole, is a soft cap, worn on the head with the top pulled down. It has been a symbol of liberty and freedom since Roman times. It was worn then by freed slaves to denote their status. Often called the Liberty Cap, it was seen during the French Revolution, and also among many other cultures, including those of the Americas.

A medal was engraved in France in 1782. It was called the Libertas Americana medal, and used designs, mottoes and concepts conceived by Benjamin Franklin. It shows a portrait of a young Liberty with flowing hair, and a liberty cap on a pole. This is a clear inspiration to the designs found on the early coins of America. The resemblance of Liberty on this medal to the obverse of the 1793 Half Cent is very strong. The Liberty cap was used on the Seated Liberty coins as well, as a small figure often mistaken for a flag, since it is on a pole.

The Liberty cap was also found on many other issues, such as one Colonial coin, the “Immune Columbia” piece of 1785, the Large cent of 1793, on half cents from 1794 to 1797, and on large cents 1793 to 1796 – either as Liberty’s headwear, or on a pole. Also the Capped Bust silver coins show Liberty with long, curly hair, wearing a Liberty cap. The first gold coins of the 1790’s also have Liberty wearing this cap, this time with her hair twirled around it; later years of the quarter and half eagle coins show a Liberty much like the one on the earlier Capped Bust design. Then the Barber coins have Liberty wearing this cap, along with a laurel wreath, which is a symbol of victory. The Morgan Dollar shows Liberty in this cap as well, this time adorned with bolls of cotton, and stalks of wheat. 

After these issues, the Liberty cap went out of favor. There is one (actually two) other uses of the Liberty cap on the American coins – the Liberty on the Walking Liberty Half is wearing it. But since this coin shows Liberty in full figure, the head is barely noticed, and the cap is very small and easy to miss. The same design, used on the Eagle coins of 1986 and onwards, will make it easier to see this Liberty cap, since it is based on the same design as the Half – but more than twice as large.

There is one pattern piece for the gold dollar of 1836 that has the Liberty Cap as its main design element. Here it is surrounded by rays. However this coin never reached the production stage to reach circulation. Also in 1836, the Mint issued a private token to commemorate the beginning of using steam presses to mint the coins – on February 22nd, 1836. This token was made in gold, silver, and “oroide” which is an alloy resembling gold. About 60 of these are known. One other use of the Liberty cap was on one of the patterns for a three cent piece in 1850 – also never making it to the circulation stage.  The Liberty cap also appears on Mexican and French coins. Since the French Revolution came just 13 years after the American Revolution, both used the symbol for freedom, and turned to classical antiquity for their inspiration – finding the Liberty Cap exemplified it best.