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Mercury Dime
The Mercury dime is a ten-cent coin struck by the United States Mint from late 1916 to 1945. Designed by Adolph Weinman and also referred to as the Winged Liberty Head dime, it gained its common name because the obverse depiction of a young Liberty, identifiable by her winged Phrygian cap, was confused with the Roman god Mercury. Weinman is believed to have used Elsie Stevens, the wife of lawyer and poet Wallace Stevens, as a model. The coin's reverse depicts a ''fasces'', symbolizing unity and strength, and an olive branch, signifying peace. By 1916, the dime, quarter, and half dollar designed by Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber had been struck for 25 years, and could be replaced by the Treasury, of which the Mint is a part, without Congressional authorization. Mint officials were under the misapprehension that the designs had to be changed, and held a competition among three sculptors, in which Barber, who had been in his position for 36 years, also too ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reeding
Reeding or milling is a technique wherein a number of narrow ridges called "reeds" are carved or milled into a surface with a Castaing machine. Numismatics In numismatics, reeded edges are often referred to as "ridged" or "grooved" (American usage), or "milled" (British usage). Some coins, such as United States quarters and dimes, 1 euro, Australian 5, 10, 20 cents, 1 and 2 dollars, as well many other current coins, have reeded edges. One reason for having reeded edges was to prevent counterfeiting. Some gold and silver coins were reeded to discourage clipping, i.e. scraping off the precious metals from the edge of the coin, to maintain its stated value in precious metal. This practice was made more difficult through the implementation of reeding by Isaac Newton in 1698, during his time as warden of the Royal Mint. Another benefit of certain coins having reeded edges is that it helps the visually impaired identify different coin denominations by sense of touch alone. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barber Coinage
The Barber coinage consists of a Dime (U.S. coin), dime, Quarter (U.S. coin), quarter, and Half dollar (U.S. coin), half dollar designed by United States Mint, United States Bureau of the Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber. They were minted between 1892 and 1916, though no half dollars were struck in the final year of the series. By the late 1880s, there were increasing calls for the replacement of the United States Seated Liberty coinage, Seated Liberty design, used since the 1830s on most denominations of silver coins. In 1891, Director of the United States Mint, Mint Director Edward O. Leech, having been authorized by Congress to approve coin redesigns, ordered a competition, seeking a new look for the silver coins. As only the winner would receive a cash prize, invited artists refused to participate and no entry from the public proved suitable. Leech instructed Barber to prepare new designs for the dime, quarter, and half dollar, and after the chief engraver made changes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Penny (United States Coin)
The penny, officially known as the cent, is a coin in the United States representing one-hundredth of a dollar. It has been the lowest face-value physical unit of U.S. currency since the abolition of the half-cent in 1857 (the abstract mill, which has never been minted, equal to a tenth of a cent, continues to see limited use in the fields of taxation and finance). The U.S. Mint's official name for the coin is " cent" and the U.S. Treasury's official name is "one cent piece". The colloquial term ''penny'' derives from the British coin of the same name, which occupies a similar place in the British system. ''Pennies'' is the plural form (not to be confused with ''pence'', which refers to the unit of currency). The first U.S. cent was produced in 1787, and the cent has been issued primarily as a copper or copper-plated coin throughout its history. In 1792, Congress established the US Mint, which began producing coins. In the same year, the Coinage Act of 1792 mand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quarter Eagle
The quarter eagle is a gold coin that was issued by the United States with a value of two hundred and fifty cents, or two dollars and fifty cents. It was given its name in the Coinage Act of 1792, as a derivation from the US ten-dollar Eagle (United States coin), eagle coin. History The quarter eagle denomination (currency), denomination was struck at the main mint (coin), mint at Philadelphia Mint, Philadelphia (1796–1929), and branch mints in Charlotte Mint, Charlotte (1838–1860), New Orleans Mint, New Orleans (1839–1857 only), Dahlonega Mint, Dahlonega (1839–1859), San Francisco Mint, San Francisco (1854–1879), and Denver Mint, Denver (1911–1925). Years were skipped at the various mints, with no coins at all made from 1809–1820 and 1916–1924. The first issues weighed at .9167 fineness. This was modified to and at .8992 fineness by the Coinage Act of 1834. The soon-to-follow Coinage Act of 1837 established a fineness of .900, meaning that 1837 and later qua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Half Eagle
The half eagle is a United States coin that was produced for circulation from 1795 to 1929 and in commemorative and bullion coins since 1983. Composed almost entirely of gold, its face value of five dollars is half that of the eagle coin. Production of the half eagle was authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792, and it was the first gold coin minted by the United States. Capped Bust Right The design and composition of the half eagle changed many times over the years; it was originally designed by Keenan Barber Ganz. At this time the coin contained .9167 gold and .0833 copper and silver. It had a diameter of approximately , a weight of 8.75 grams, and a reeded edge. The obverse design, or "Turban Head", depicted a capped portrait of Liberty facing to the right. The reverse depicted a small eagle. This type was the first gold coin produced by the new country, with issues from 1795 to 1798. Simultaneously, another type was minted that depicted a larger heraldic eagle on the rever ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eagle (United States Coin)
The eagle is a United States $10 gold coin issued by the United States Mint from 1795 to 1933. The eagle was the largest of the five main decimal base-units of denomination used for circulating coinage in the United States prior to 1933, the year when gold was withdrawn from circulation. These five main base-units of denomination were the mill, the cent, the dime, the dollar, and the eagle, where a cent is 10 mills, a dime is 10 cents, a dollar is 10 dimes, and an eagle is 10 dollars. The eagle base-unit of denomination served as the basis of the quarter eagle ($2.50), half eagle ($5), eagle ($10), and double eagle ($20) coins. With the exceptions of the gold dollar coin, the gold three-dollar coin, the three-cent nickel, and the five-cent nickel, the unit of denomination of coinage prior to 1933 was conceptually linked to the precious or semi-precious metal that constituted a majority of the alloy used in that coin. In this regard the United States followed long-standi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Seated Liberty Coinage
The Seated Liberty Glossary of numismatics, portrait designs appeared on most regular-issue silver United States coinage from 1836 through 1891. The denominations which featured the Liberty (goddess), Goddess of Liberty in a Seated Liberty design included the half dime, the dime (U.S. coin), dime, the quarter (U.S. coin), quarter, the Half dollar (U.S. coin), half dollar, and until 1873 the Dollar coin (United States), silver dollar. Another coin that appeared exclusively in the Seated Liberty design was the Twenty-cent piece (U.S. coin), twenty cent piece. This coin was produced from 1875 to 1878, and was discontinued because it looked very similar to the quarter. Seated Liberty coinage was minted at the main United States Mint in Philadelphia Mint, Philadelphia, as well as the branch mints in New Orleans Mint, New Orleans, San Francisco Mint, San Francisco, and Carson City Mint, Carson City. Background Mint Director R. M. Patterson sought to change U.S. coinage as early as 1835 fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Half Dollar (United States Coin)
The half dollar, sometimes referred to as the half for short or 50-cent piece, is a United States coin worth 50 cents, or one half of a dollar. In both size and weight, it is the largest circulating coin currently minted in the United States, being in diameter and in thickness, and is twice the weight of the quarter. The coin's design has undergone a number of changes throughout its history. Since 1964, the half dollar depicts the profile of President John F. Kennedy on the obverse and the seal of the president of the United States on the reverse. Although seldom used today, half-dollar coins were once common in circulation and saw regular use alongside other denominations of US coinage, but have become uncommon in general circulation for several reasons. Half-dollars were produced in fairly large quantities until the year 2002, when the U.S. Mint reduced production of the coin and ceased minting them for regular circulation. As a result of its decreasing usage, many pre- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quarter (United States Coin)
The quarter, formally known as the quarter dollar, is a coin in the United States valued at 25 cents, representing one-quarter of a United States dollar, dollar. Adorning its obverse is the profile of George Washington, while its reverse design has undergone frequent changes since 1998. Since its initial production in 1796, the quarter dollar has held a significant place in American numismatics, with consistent production since 1831. It has a diameter of 0.955 inch (24.26 mm) and a thickness of 0.069 inch (1.75 mm). Its current version is composed of two layers of cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) clad on a core of pure copper. With the cupronickel layers comprising 1/3 of total weight, the coin's overall composition is therefore 8.33% nickel, 91.67% copper. Its weight is 0.1823 troy oz. or 0.2000 Avoirdupois system, avoirdupois oz. (5.670 grams). Designs before 1932 The choice of a quarter-dollar as a denomination, as opposed to the or the 20-cent piece that is m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franklin Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served more than two terms. His first two terms were centered on combating the Great Depression, while his third and fourth saw him shift his focus to America's involvement in World War II. A member of the prominent Delano and Roosevelt families, Roosevelt was elected to the New York State Senate from 1911 to 1913 and was then the assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson during World War I. Roosevelt was James M. Cox's running mate on the Democratic Party's ticket in the 1920 U.S. presidential election, but Cox lost to Republican nominee Warren G. Harding. In 1921, Roosevelt contracted a paralytic illness that permanently paralyzed his legs. Partly through the encouragement of his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, he ret ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
