Talk:Coins of the United States dollar

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Thanks for fixing the table, I didn't know how to do that with my limited HTML --corvus13

You're welcome; all in a day's wiking. --the Epopt


Contents

[edit] Name of this article

The equivalent article for the Euro is Euro coins -- plural, small c. I suggest we rename this one in line, ie "United States coins". the US coins have pages too, which currently have slashed "subpage" -style names. these need fixing too. -- Tarquin 17:54 Jan 2, 2003 (UTC)

I agree and will be working to update this page soon. -- Minesweeper 00:17 May 12, 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Circulating Dollar Coins

Although there aren't as many of them as Sacagaweas and SBAs, there are still a good number of Eisenhower "silver" dollars in circulation. I don't know their years of issue offhand, but they should definitely be added to the "circulating" table.Matt gies 04:20, 3 Mar 2004 (UTC)

1971 to 1978

There may be some Ikes out there in circulation but I see more Wheat Cents in circulation than Ikes. If I was doing it, I would change the Coins currently in circulation to read Coins currently in production. It is a much less subjective categorization. I would then list only the currently produced coins. --Qwertypoiuy 21:48, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] From 'needs attention' (taken care of, IMHO)

I've a suggestion for some additions, and wanted to give opportunity for some discussion about it.

It should be noted that the Coinage Act of 1965 made all coins produced by the US Mint since 1793 Legal Tender. (So get out there and spend those half-cents!) Consequently, current law does not make the distinction regarding "circulating" or "non-circulating" denominations, merely what denominations, compositions, and designs are currently minted. This is vital with regard to usage and other laws, such as counterfeiting; i.e., the penalties for counterfeiting a twenty cent piece from the 1870s is the same as would be for counterfeiting a mordern quarter dollar coin.

Also, I would suggest adding a column to the table for compostion.

mark 05:13, 1 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Why was the process for making US coins deleted?

Why was the (PD from a US government site) text about how us coins are made deleted? Doesn't anyone think that might be appropriate in an article about US coins? http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_coinage&diff=26675924&oldid=26675902 --70.225.75.183 11:17, 28 October 2005 (UTC)

Presumably either A) copyvio or B) considered too lengthy. Personally, I'd add a link to the mint site, but not copy the whole thing Nik42 04:31, 29 October 2005 (UTC)
It was off of the US Treasury site so presumably there is no copyright issue. If there is a copyright concern, I am certainly capable of writing an article on it myself. However, I am not going to waste my time if it will just be deleted anyway (Aye, there's the rub with Wikipedia, eh? Why make that kind of effort to write an article if it is going to be for nothing when you can use that time to publish yourself?) A link is fine, I guess, until the originating site changes or they delete the information. Frankly, I think it is vital information about US Coinage but I am coming at it from a Numismatic standpoint. If you do not know how US Coins are made, you are are missing very important information needed to collect US coins. --70.225.75.183 13:37, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] About the table

The design was not changed in 1965, only the metal content. Since the chart says "design" and not "composition", I see no reason to claim that the perched eagle design dates back only from 1965. However, I'll compromise. I put a footnote about the change in metal, while retaining the dates 1932-1999 for the design. Nik42 05:33, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

maybe to people familiar with these coins "dime" is a logical value, but as it is in the table at the moment it is meaningless. I propose "dime" is not a value of a coin -- rather a name. what is the value? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 202.79.62.18 (talk) 10:51, 29 March 2007 (UTC).
"Dime" is a unit of measurement meaning "tenth part." See Dime (United States coin). That is how the value is listed on the coin (one dime) rather than how it is listed on the penny (one cent), nickel (five cents), or quarter (quarter dollar). I agree this can be confusing to those unfamiliar with US coinage. I think the link taking the reader to the main Dime article is sufficient in providing that reference, though. Changing it to read "1 dime (10 cents)" would alter the form of the table which appears to relay only the official description of value from the coins themselves.Dcmacnut 03:57, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merge from United States dollar:U.S. coins

The United States dollar article contains a coins section that duplicates information here or would be more appropriate here. I would like move most if not all of that information here. -- Seitz 21:24, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

I think that is a good idea.Manufracture 15:59, 9 March 2006 (UTC)
Good idea, they are very alike. Tom 22:05, 12 March 2006 (UTC)
Agree , merge. --Blainster 08:43, 16 March 2006 (UTC)
Agree , merge. --Minnesota1 06:14, 27 March 2006 (UTC)
I also agree merge –—Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.104.110.232 (talk)
Merge but make sure the article retains info on the dollar coin. Joe I 00:57, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
  • Oppose A summary is needed there. Sumahoy 00:47, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
A summary that includes more info than on United States coinage, including unnessacary info for a United States dollar summary. Joe I 01:00, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
  • Agree Merging seems like a great idea. ReverendG 22:35, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
  • Support: Merge into here. --ChoChoPK (球球PK) (talk | contrib) 22:57, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
  • Oppose: A section outlining dollar coins and multiple and fractional dollar coins needs to be retained there. It need not be detailed, but dollars are dollars whether bills or coins. If multi-dollar notes are to be discussed there, then it is appropriate to discuss multi-dollar coins there as well. Some overlap is inevitable, and I agree that little more than an outline and link is really necessary. construct3 3 December 2006
  • Comment I'm not sure where do you refer to when you say "multi-dollar notes are to be discussed there". If they are, then I would argue that they should be merged too, perhaps into Federal Reserve Note. One thing I learn from work (software development) is that copying and pasting stuff is very bad for collaborative maintenance. The same mistake can be replicated. And if someone fixes one instance but not the others, then it would be contradiction within Wikipedia itself. That would be massive confusion. Such duplication should be kept minimal, to a small paragraph summary. --ChoChoPK (球球PK) (talk | contrib) 16:25, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
  • Reply: There are long discussions on that page of the various denominations of U.S. currency. Each denomination of U.S. currency also has its own speciallized article. There is also a separate article about U.S. dollar coins. My suggestion would be to retain an overview of those subjects in the United States Dollar article. The section could be significantly truncated without its being elliminated altogether. That might well be an improvement. My conceptualization is that the U.S. dollar is not only a monetary unit but also the physical representation of that unit as bills and coins. Thus I believe they should be given some attention under that topic. As for future inconsistancies, I agree that duplication of information can lead to inconsistant future edits. I'm not sure that can be avoided in a collaborative project of this size, but I also don't believe that to be adequate to support elliminating major sections of material that is important to the topic. construct3 3 December 2006

[edit] Marked for cleanup

Saw this edit and realized it was more than a quick look and/or fix to incorporate the new information into the article in an encyclopedic manner. There was at least one abbreviation of government and something about a pun.  ?!? I'll be back, but thought I'd mention why I tagged the article. — MrDolomite | Talk 06:23, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Comparison of size/composition for all US coins

I added a new page with two extensive tables, one showing the size, composition, and years minted for all coin types (not individual designs), and another version of the table showing scaled images for each coin type.

The intent was to provide an easy way to comprehend the relative differences in the various coins. We frequently see many of these coins only in pictures, and not firsthand, and so having an easy way to see all the US mintage history in a glance seemed useful. I wasn't sure where to link it on this page, so I stuck it in under obsolete coinage. If anyone can think of a better place to link it, please do so. And if anyone can improve on the page I did (and it'll certainly need it), please do that, too! (hint -- we need representative images for Large Cent and quarter/half/full/double eagle coins). Dschuetz 04:04, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Stamp out a Queen

I've heard Queen Isabella appeared on a U.S. coin. Anybody know which one, & when? Trekphiler 07:09, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

Columbian Exposition quarter dollar :-) Bobby I'm Here, Are You There? 17:36, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Photos of Circulating coins

It would be useful to have photos of all the coins in common circulation together on this page at the same scale, as is done for Euro coins, British coinage and Canadian coinage. It is difficult for someone who has never seen them and wants to know what they look like to visualise them when the photos are all on different pages in different scales.

Also please add their sizes to the table (in mm, so "foreigners" can understand :-) ). TiffaF 08:02, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

I recommend using table style found at Wikipedia:WikiProject Numismatics/Style/Currency article. --ChoChoPK (球球PK) (talk | contrib) 08:19, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] A 12-1/2 cent coin?

Wasn't there a 12-1/2 cent ("one bit") coin before the Civil War?

No. There was a 20-cent coin minted, along with some 2- and 3-cent pieces, but never a 12.5Chiwara 00:53, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
There was a 12-1/2 cent, but it wasn't a coin minted by the US government. It was the pillar dollar (8 Reales), a Spanish coin usually minted in Mexico City. It was a standard currency in the USA until sometime in the 1860s, I think. Also known as a bit, the pillar dollar was worth 12-1/2 cents so quarters were known as 2 bits. 16:19, 25 September 2007 (UTC)~~
The "bit" was the Real. The peso was equal to the dollar, so the real, being 1/8 peso, was equivalent to 12½ cents. There were also a number of commercial tokens equal to 12½ cents in parts of the West. Particularly many bars had 12½-cent tokens so that they could sell beer at 2 for a quarter. Nik42 05:50, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
The "Real" was American slang for the 8 Reales or "piece of 8". As you said it was a 1/8 peso. A bit = a real = 8 reales = a piece of 8 = 1/8 peso = a pillar dollar = 12-1/2 cents. The usage of the piece of 8 predates the United States because the British government limited the amount of British currency shipped to the American colonies and prevented the minting of colonial money. Since there was an abundance of Spanish money on the American continents, it was the standard used in the Americas, even in the non-Spanish territory. 16:19, 25 September 2007 (UTC)Lokifer
The pillar dollar or piece of 8 was the peso, $1, not 12½ cents. That's why the peso/dollar was adopted as the US currency. 1 peso (AKA Spanish Dollar) = 8 reales (or "bits") = 1 dollar. Nik42 05:10, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Kennedy Half Dollar and Sacagawea Dollar not in circulation?

The footnotes below the list of current US coinage should probably be amendmed slightly. It is innaccurate to say these coins are not minted for general circulation. While it is true that Kennedy Half Dollars and Sacagawea Dollars are not widely used by the public, they are still legal tender minted for general circulation, along with uncirculated and proof sets just like any other US coin. Financial institutions need to order the coins from the Federal Reserve before they wind up in the pockets of the public, but many banks and businesses do not use them so they are not as widespread. The public can order directly from the mint (by paying a surcharge) and spend them like any other coin. Sacagawea dollars are used quite extensively in vending machines at U.S. Post Offices and are given out as change.Dcmacnut 19:45, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wheat cents in circulation?

I think it's dubious to claim that wheat cents are still circulating. I mean, in addition to wheats, I've pulled silver dimes and buffalo nickels out of circulation myself, but that doesn't mean they're really commonly circulating. I propose deleting wheat cents as a currently circulating coin. Matt Gies 19:51, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Agreed. They're too rare, I've personally never seen one (though I've probably been in possession of one without noticing). --67.165.6.76 01:21, 10 April 2007 (UTC)
They're not *that* rare. Certainly far more common than silver dimes. From my experience as a cashier, I'd estimate that maybe 2-3% of pennies in circulation are wheat pennies. Silver dimes, on the other hand, would be less than a tenth of a percent of the dimes Nik42 19:22, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Susan B. Anthony dollars

Susan B's should be included in the table. They are at least as common in circulation as wheat cents (and much more common than Independence Hall halves). I've received 1979s and 1999s from post-office vending machines. (According to the article on them, there was discussion on the mint making an effort to withdraw them from circulation in favor of the golden dollars due to confusion with quarters, but apparently such plans have been delayed for the time being.) Speight 02:38, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

(Responding this thread and the previous). I believe it would be better if the table should list coins "intended for general current circulation". The USD has its unique situation where half dollar and the dollar coin don't really circulate. If so, then wheat cent should be removed. --ChoChoPK (球球PK) (talk | contrib) 04:55, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
I would agree with Speight. I've received some Anthony dollars in change recently from a local business.-MBK004 21:27, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
I have taken the liberty to add the Anthony dollars to the chart.-MBK004 22:38, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Quarter Image

The image shown for the obverse of the quarter is the 50 states series. The pre-1999 quarters had a different obverse. Is there an image of one of those quarters that can be used there instead? Nik42 19:23, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

There is on the Washington Quarter (U.S.) page.-MBK004 21:27, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
I've taken the liberty of adding the image I suggested previously.-MBK004 04:52, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The Sexual and Political Orientation of US Coins

As with other Wiki topics, we include here a section on the very important sexual and political orientation of US coins. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.121.1.18 (talk) 17:00, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

Coins have sexual or political orientations? What the heck's that supposed to mean? Nik42 19:14, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Missing Coins from the Table

I think you could argue that there are multiple coins missing from this list: the Indian Head Nickel, the Franklin Half Dollar and the various other dollar coins (Morgan, Peace, Eisenhower). I think that these should be included for the same reasons that the "wheat" penny, the pre-2004 nickel and the Anthony dollar are included.

If the intension is to show what is currently being minted, then several of the coins listed in the current table should be considered movable to a new table showing "previous versions" of the denominations Mconwell (talk) 17:26, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Well, the coins displayed here are the coins that are currently in circulation. It may seem strange, but the"wheat" penny can still be found if you try hard enough. Also, I just got some Anthony dollar coins from the bank today. The coins you suggested are not in current circulation, and in the case of the Franklin Half Dollar, the silver content far exceeds the face value of the coin. -MBK004 18:45, 27 January 2008 (UTC)