HOME



picture info

Three-cent Nickel
The copper-nickel three-cent piece, often called a three-cent nickel piece or three-cent nickel, was designed by US Mint Chief Engraver James B. Longacre and struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint from 1865 to 1889. It was initially popular, but its place in commerce was supplanted by the five-cent piece, or nickel. With precious metal federal coinage hoarded during the economic turmoil of the American Civil War, including the silver three-cent piece, and even the copper-nickel cent commanding a premium, Congress issued paper money in denominations as small as three cents to replace the hoarded coins in commerce. These small slips of paper became ragged and dirty, and the public came to hate " shinplasters". After the issuance in 1864 of a lighter bronze cent and a two-cent piece of that metal, both of which circulated freely, there were proposals for a three-cent piece in copper-nickel to replace the three-cent note. The advocates were led by Pennsylvania industrialis ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

United States Dollar
The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish dollar, Spanish silver dollar, divided it into 100 cent (currency), cents, and authorized the Mint (facility), minting of coins denominated in dollars and cents. U.S. banknotes are issued in the form of Federal Reserve Notes, popularly called greenbacks due to their predominantly green color. The U.S. dollar was originally defined under a bimetallism, bimetallic standard of (0.7734375 troy ounces) fine silver or, from Coinage Act of 1834, 1834, fine gold, or $20.67 per troy ounce. The Gold Standard Act of 1900 linked the dollar solely to gold. From 1934, its equivalence to gold was revised to $35 per troy ounce. In 1971 all links to gold were repealed. The U.S. dollar became an important intern ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Three-cent Piece
The United States three cent piece was a unit of currency equaling of a United States dollar. The mint produced two different three-cent coins for circulation: the three-cent silver and the three-cent nickel. Additionally, a three-cent bronze coin was made as a pattern in 1863. During the period from 1865 to 1873, both coins were minted, albeit in very small quantities for the silver three-cent piece. History The three-cent coin was proposed in 1851 both as a result of the decrease in postage rates from five cents to three and to answer the need for a small-denomination, easy-to-handle coin. The three-cent silver featured a shield on a six-sided star on the obverse and the Roman numeral III on the reverse. The coin was initially composed of 75% silver and 25% copper to ensure that the coin would be considered real currency yet not worth melting down for the silver. The coins were physically the lightest-weight coins ever minted by the United States, weighing only and with a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Two-cent Piece (United States Coin)
The two-cent piece was produced by the Mint of the United States for circulation from 1864 to 1872 and for collectors in 1873. Designed by James B. Longacre, there were decreasing mintages each year, as other minor coins such as the nickel proved more popular. It was abolished by the Mint Act of 1873. The economic turmoil of the American Civil War caused government-issued coins, even the non-silver Indian Head cent, to vanish from circulation, hoarded by the public. One means of filling this gap was private token issues, often made of bronze. The cent at that time was struck of a copper-nickel alloy, the same diameter as the later Lincoln cent, but somewhat thicker. The piece was difficult for the Philadelphia Mint to strike, and Mint officials, as well as the annual Assay Commission, recommended the coin's replacement. Despite opposition from those wishing to keep the metal nickel in the coinage, led by Pennsylvania Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, Congress passed the Coina ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Coinage Act Of 1864
The Coinage Act of 1864 was a United States federal law passed on April 22, 1864, which changed the composition of the Cent (United States coin), one-cent coin and authorized the minting of the Two-cent piece (United States coin), two-cent coin. The Director of the United States Mint, Director of the U.S. Mint developed the designs for these coins for final approval of the Secretary of the Treasury. As a result of this law, the phrase "In God We Trust" first appeared, on the 1864 two-cent coin. An Act of Congress, passed on March 3, 1865, allowed the Mint Director, with the Secretary's approval, to place the phrase on all gold and silver coins that "shall admit the inscription thereon." In 1956, "In God We Trust" replaced ''"E Pluribus Unum"'' as the national motto. Beginning in 1957 currency was also printed with the motto. The law also made it illegal to privately mint one and two cent coins for circulation, thus effectively ending the production of Civil War tokens. See also ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Thaddeus Stevens
Thaddeus Stevens (April 4, 1792August 11, 1868) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, being one of the leaders of the Radical Republican faction of the History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party during the 1860s. A fierce opponent of Slavery in the United States, slavery and discrimination against black Americans, Stevens sought to secure their rights during Reconstruction era, Reconstruction, leading the opposition to U.S. President Andrew Johnson. As chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee during the American Civil War, he played a leading role, focusing his attention on defeating the Confederate States of America, Confederacy, financing the war with new taxes and borrowing, crushing the power of slave owners, ending slavery, and securing equal rights for the freedmen. Stevens was born in rural Vermont, in poverty, and with a club foot, which left him with a per ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Gap, Pennsylvania
Gap is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Salisbury Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a ZIP code of 17527. The population was 1,931 at the 2010 census. U.S. Route 30 passes through the town, which is also the terminus for four Pennsylvania highways: 772, 741, 897, and the heavily used 41, which leads toward Wilmington, Delaware. Gap lies approximately east of Lancaster and west of Philadelphia. History Gap was named for its location at a low pass through Mine Ridge. Gap has a history which can be dated as far back as William Penn's first visits to the area. Isaac Taylor erected the first house in what would become Gap in 1747. The area around Gap had a copper mine and what at the time were the only nickel mines in the United States. From 1792, the Rising Sun Tavern stood on the Philadelphia–Lancaster Pike (which is now U.S. Route 30) and had a small village with blacksmith shop. Most of the buildings stood until ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

James Pollock (American Politician)
James Pollock (September 11, 1810 – April 19, 1890) was the 13th governor of Pennsylvania from 1855 to 1858. Political career James Pollock graduated from the College of New Jersey at Princeton before setting up a law practice in his home community, in Milton, Pennsylvania. District attorney and judicial appointments followed and in 1844 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives where he served three successive terms. As a freshman congressman, Pollock boarded in the same rooming house as another new congressman, Abraham Lincoln (who would later become the 16th President of the United States), and they soon developed a mutual respect and longstanding friendship. Pollock was an early supporter of Samuel Morse and his idea for a telegraph and was instrumental in getting the United States Congress to appropriate a small amount to help build the first line. He was present in the room when the first message, "What hath God wrought" was received, ushering in ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

1865 Two Cent Obverse
Events January * January 4 – The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at Broad Street (Manhattan), 10-12 Broad near Wall Street, in New York City. * January 13 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Fort Fisher – Union forces launch a major amphibious assault against the last seaport held by the Confederate States of America, Confederates, Fort Fisher, North Carolina. * January 15 – American Civil War: Union forces capture Fort Fisher. * January 31 ** The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (conditional prohibition of slavery and involuntary servitude) passes narrowly, in the House of Representatives. ** American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief. February * February 3 – American Civil War: Hampton Roads Conference: Union and Confederate leaders discuss peace terms. * February 6 – The Municipalities of Finland#History, municipal administration of Finland i ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Shinplasters
Shinplaster was paper money of low denomination, typically less than one dollar, circulating widely in the economies of the 19th century where there was a shortage of circulating coinage. The shortage of circulating coins was primarily due to the intrinsic value of metal rising above the value of the coin itself. People became incentivized to take coins out of circulation and melt them for the true intrinsic value. This left no medium of exchange for the purchase of basic consumer goods such as milk and newspapers. To fill this gap, banks issued low-denomination paper currency. Etymology The term ''shinplaster'' came into use during the American Revolutionary War. Shinplaster was a piece of paper soldiers put inside their boots to cushion their shins against chafing and rash (see plaster). Common, low-denomination notes, perceived as almost worthless compared to hard currency such as gold and silver, came to be known by this term. United States Private issues from stores ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Fractional Currency
__NOTOC__ Fractional currency, also referred to as shinplasters, was introduced by the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government following the outbreak of the American Civil War, Civil War. These low-Denomination (currency), denomination banknotes of the United States dollar were in use between August 21, 1862, and February 15, 1876, and issued in denominations of 3, 5, 10, 15, 25, and 50 Cent (currency), cents across five issuing periods.Kravitz The complete type set below is part of the National Numismatic Collection, housed at the National Museum of American History, part of the Smithsonian Institution. History The Civil War economy catalyzed a shortage of United States United States Coinage, coinage—gold and silver coins were hoarded given their intrinsic bullion value relative to irredeemable paper currency at the time.Anderson, p. 303.Reed, p. 298. In late 1861, to help finance the Civil War, the U.S. government borrowed gold coin from New ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Postage Stamps And Postal History Of The United States
Postal service in the United States began with the delivery of Pre-adhesive mail, stampless letters whose cost was borne by the receiving person, later encompassed pre-paid Letter (message), letters carried by private mail carriers and provisional post offices, and culminated in a system of universal prepayment that required all letters to bear nationally issued adhesive postage stamps. In the earliest days, Sea captain, ship captains arriving in port with stampless mail would advertise in the local newspaper names of those having mail and for them to come collect and pay for it, if not already paid for by the sender. Postal delivery in the United States was a matter of haphazard local organization until after the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, when eventually a national Mail, postal system was established. Stampless letters, paid for by the receiver, and private postal systems, were gradually phased out after the introduction of adhesive postage stamps, first is ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Province Of Canada
The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of 1837–1838. The Act of Union 1840, passed on 23 July 1840 by the British Parliament and proclaimed by the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Crown on 10 February 1841, merged the Colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada by abolishing their separate parliaments and replacing them with a Parliament of the Province of Canada, single one with two houses, a Legislative Council of the Province of Canada, Legislative Council as the upper chamber and the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, Legislative Assembly as the lower chamber. In the aftermath of the Rebellions of 1837–1838, unification of the two Canadas was driven by two factors. Firstly, Upper Canada was near ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]