US Coins - Numismatic Information
This section of the Numismatic Corner is dedicated to the United States Coins that are commonly found with a metal detector. The basic numismatic information was taken from two sources: Encyclopedia Of U.S. Coins by Mort Reed and The Official Red Book of United States Coins by R.S. Yeoman.
The Articles of Confederation, adopted March 1, 1781, provided that each state had the right to coin money, but Congress served as a regulating authority. New Hampshire was the first state to consider coinage, but few if any coins were placed in circulation.
Vermont, Connecticut, and New Jersey granted coining privileges to companies or individuals. Massachusetts erected its own mint in which copper coins were produced.
By the Act of April 2, 1792, Congress created the first national coinage system for the United States, established the value of a dollar (or a unit), a disme (the tenth part of a dollar), a cent (the hundredth part of a dollar), a mille (the thousandth part of a dollar), and provided for the production of a circulating medium. The first official mint was established in Philadelphia.
Popular acceptance of the Spanish milled dollar, both at home and abroad, convinced Congress that the new dollar of the United States should be identical in every respect to the Spanish dollar, except for the design. Properly alloyed, the gross weight of the new United States dollar was fixed at 416 grains - exactly that of the Spanish milled dollar.
Unlike the British symbol for the pound sterling, the dollar sign is not an official designation of United States currency. In August of 1929, The Numismatist published a detailed report, "History of Mathematical Notations" by Dr. Florian Cajori, which showed that the dollar sign was actually a modification of the old Mexican sign Ps for pesos, piastres, and pieces of eight. The dollar sign has never been used on a coin or paper currency of denominations issued for general circulation.
Whether you collect, buy, or sell U.S. coins, or just need to identify the coin you found, the folowing pages can be helpful providing you with basic numismatic information:
Large Cents
Small Cents
2 Cents, 3 Cents
Nickel Five-Cent Pieces
Dimes
Quarters
Half-Dollars
Dollars
US Gold Coins
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