When new dies are made for coins—typically for a year or design change—some are given special treatment. They’re used to produce coins for collectors known as “proofs.” Usually issued in sets containing each circulating coin for a specific year, the coins are struck under higher pressure at least tw...

Our saga of the Lincoln cent brings us to contemporary coins—the ones in circulation today. A new design for Lincoln cents was released in 1959 and is known as the Lincoln Memorial cent. Designed by mint engraver Frank Gasparro, the new coin marked both the 50th anniversary of the Lincoln cent and t...

The California Gold Rush led to the opening of the San Francisco Mint in 1854, but when the largest silver strike in US history was made in Nevada, the country found itself with massive amounts of silver on hand. It was both too expensive and too dangerous to transport the silver to San Francisco fo...

Late 20th Century Masters – Arthur Williams The last 25-30 years have seen explosive growth in technology and as you might expect, those advances have made their way into the criminal world, too. They’ve made it possible to produce counterfeit bills that are nearly undetectable by e...

Since its inception in 1792, the US Mint has produced several coins that are no longer in circulation. With the exception of gold coins nearly all were small denominations that fell out of favor for practical reasons. And all were made primarily for domestic use—except one, the Trade Dollar. Read More

Rather than making coins by stamping the design and punching them out of a strip of metal in a single step, most coin designs are pressed into individual circular blanks called planchets. This allows for the edges to be raised in a process called “upsetting” and for edge designs such as reeding and ...

This year’s theme for National Coin Week is “Connecting Cultures: From Many, One.” Building on the US motto E Pluribus Unum the theme recognizes the role of numismatics in building bridges and promoting unity across borders. 95 Years of Celebration In 1923 American Numismatic Associ...

During the thirteen years between the Declaration of Independence and ratification of the US Constitution in 1789 the states were governed by Continental Congresses. After the second Congress (1775-1781) issued the Declaration of Independence it was primarily concerned with conducting and financing ...