United States coinage was first minted by the new republic in 1792. New coins have been produced every year since then and they make up a valuable aspect of the United States currency system. Today circulating coins exist in denominations: $0.01, $0.05, $0.10, $0.25, $0.50, and $1.00. Also minted are bullion (including gold, silver and platinum) and commemorative coins. All of these are produced by the United States Mint. The coins are then sold to Federal Reserve Banks which in turn are responsible for putting coins into circulation and withdrawing them as demanded by the country's economy.
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Today four mints operate in the United States producing billions of coins each year. The main mint is the Philadelphia Mint[1], which produces circulating coinage, mint sets and some commemorative coins. The Denver Mint[2] also produces circulating coinage, mint sets and commemoratives. The San Francisco Mint[3] produces regular and silver proof coinage, and produced circulating coinage until the 1970s. The West Point Mint[4] produces bullion coinage (including proofs). Philadelphia and Denver produce the dies used at all of the mints. The proof and mint sets are manufactured each year and contain examples of all of the year's circulating coins.
The producing mint of each coin may be easily identified, as most coins bear a mint mark. The identifying letter of the mint can be found on the front side of most coins, and is often placed near the year. Unmarked coins are issued by the Philadelphia mint. Among marked coins, Philadelphia coins bear a letter P, Denver coins bear a letter D, San Francisco coins bear a letter S, New Orleans coins bear a letter O and West Point coins bear a letter W. S and W coins are rarely, if ever, found in general circulation, although S coins bearing dates prior to the mid-1970s are in circulation. CC and D mint marks were used for a short time in the early-to-mid-nineteenth century by temporary mints in Carson City, Nevada and Dahlonega, Georgia, respectively; all such coins are now in the hands of collectors and museums.
| Value | Image | Specifications[5] | Description | Minted | Usage | Common Reference | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Obverse | Reverse | Diameter | Thickness | Mass | Composition | Edge | Obverse | Reverse | ||||
| $0.01 | 19.00 mm | 1.55 mm | 1909-1982 3.11 g |
copper 95% tin/zinc 5%1 |
Plain | Abraham Lincoln | Wheat | 1909–1958 | wide2 | Wheat Penny, Penny, Cent | ||
| 19.05 mm | Lincoln Memorial | 1959–2008 | wide | |||||||||
| see article: 2009 Redesign | 1982- present 2.50 g |
core: zinc 97.5% plating: copper 2.5%1 |
Lincoln bicentennial series | 2009 | ||||||||
| Union shield | 2010–present | |||||||||||
| $0.05 | 21.21 mm | 1.95 mm | 5.00 g | copper 75% nickel 25%3 |
Plain | Thomas Jefferson | Monticello | 1938–1942, 1946–2003 | wide | Nickel | ||
| see article: Westward Journey nickel | Westward Journey Series | 2004–2005 | ||||||||||
| Monticello | 2006–present | |||||||||||
| $0.10 | 17.91 mm | 1.35 mm | 2.268 g | copper 91.67% nickel 8.33%4 |
118 reeds | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Torch, oak branch, olive branch | 1965–present | wide | Dime | ||
| $0.25 | 24.26 mm | 1.75 mm | 5.67 g | 119 reeds | George Washington | Bald Eagle | 1965–1974, 1977–19985 | wide | Quarter | |||
| Bicentennial colonial military drummer | (1975) 19765 | |||||||||||
| See article: 50 State Quarters | State Quarter Series | 1999–2008 | ||||||||||
| See article: D.C. and U.S. Territories Quarters | D.C. and U. S. Territories Quarters | 2009 | ||||||||||
| See article: America the Beautiful Quarters | America the Beautiful Quarters | 2010–2021 | ||||||||||
| $0.50 (rare) |
30.61 mm | 2.15 mm | 11.34 g | 150 reeds | John F. Kennedy | Seal of the President of the United States surrounded by 50 stars | 1971–1974, 1977–present5 | limited6 | Half dollar, 50-cent piece | |||
| Independence Hall | (1975) 19765 | |||||||||||
| $1 (rare) |
26.50 mm | 2.00 mm | 8.10 g | reeded | Susan B. Anthony | Apollo 11 mission insignia | 1979–1981, 19998 | limited6 | SBA, Suzie B. | |||
| 26.50 mm | 2.00 mm | 8.10 g | copper 77% zinc 12% manganese 7% nickel 4% |
plain | Sacagawea | Bald Eagle in flight | 2000–2008 | Gold(en) dollar, Sacajawea | ||||
| see article: Native American $1 Coin Act | Plain w/ incused inscriptions | Native American Themes | 2009–present | |||||||||
| see article: Presidential $1 Coin Program7 | Each deceased president | Statue of Liberty | 2007–present | Gold(en) dollar | ||||||||
| These images are to scale at 2.5 pixels per millimeter. For table standards, see the coin specification table. | ||||||||||||
Non-circulating bullion coins have been produced each year since 1986. They can be found in silver, gold and also platinum since 1997. The face value of these coins is legal as tender, but does not actually reflect the value of the precious metal contained therein. On 11 May 2011, Utah became the first state to accept these coins as the value of the precious metal in common transactions. The Utah State Treasurer assigns a numerical precious metal value to these coins each week based on the spot metal prices.
| Type | Diameter | Fineness | Face Value | Content |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Silver Eagle | 40.6 mm | 999 fine silver | $1 | 1.00 troy ounce (~31.10 grams) |
| American Gold Eagle | 16.5 mm 22.0 mm 27.0 mm 32.7 mm |
916 fine gold (22 karat) | $5 $10 $25 $50 |
0.10 ozt (~3.11 g) 0.25 ozt (~7.78 g) 0.50 ozt (~15.6 g) 1.00 ozt (~31.10 g) |
| American Platinum Eagle | 16.5 mm 22.0 mm 27.0 mm 32.7 mm |
999.5 fine platinum | $10 $25 $50 $100 |
0.10 ozt (~3.11 g) 0.25 ozt (~7.78 g) 0.50 ozt (~15.56 g) 1.00 ozt (~31.10 g) |
| American Buffalo | 32.7 mm | 999.9 fine gold (24 karat) | $50 | 1.00 ozt (~31.10 g) |
| America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins | 76.2 mm | 999 fine silver | 25¢ | 5.00 ozt (~155.5 g) |
Modern commemoratives have been minted since 1982. An incomplete list is available here.
| Type | Total Weight | Diameter | Composition | Precious Metal Content |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Half Dollar | 11.34 g | 30.61 mm (1.205 in) | Cu 92%, Ni 8% | none |
| Dollar | 26.73 g | 38.1 mm (1.500 in) | Ag 90%, Cu 10% | silver 24.057 g (~0.773 ozt) |
| Half Eagle | 8.539 g | 21.59 mm (0.850 in) | Au 90%, Ag 6%, Cu 4% | gold 7.523 g (~0.2418 ozt) |
| Eagle | 16.718 g | 26.92 mm (1.060 in) | Au 90%, Ag 6%, Cu 4% | gold 15.05 g (~0.484 ozt) |
| First Spouse Eagle Bullion | 14.175 g | 26.49 mm (1.043 in) | Au 99.99% | gold 14.175 g (~0.456 ozt) |
Main article: Numismatic history of the United States
Note: It is a common misconception that "eagle"-based nomenclature for gold U.S. coinage was merely slang. This is not the case. The "eagle," "half-eagle" and "quarter-eagle" were specifically given these names in the Coinage Act of 1792. Likewise, the double eagle was specifically created as such by name ("An Act to authorize the Coinage of Gold Dollars and Double Eagles", title and section 1, March 3, 1849).
Some modern commemorative coins have been minted in the silver dollar, half-eagle and eagle denominations.
See also US coin sizes, showing all major US coin series and scaled images in a single chart.
The law governing obsolete, mutilated, and worn coins and currency, including denominations which are no longer in production (i.e. Indian cents) can be found in 31 U.S.C. § 5120.
For historical reasons the size of the coins does not increase with their face value. Both the one cent and the five cent are larger than the ten cent and the less common 50 cent coin is larger than the recent Sacagawea and Susan B. Anthony dollar coins, and the newer same sized Presidential $1 Coins. The sizes of the dime, quarter, and half dollar are holdovers from before 1965 when they were made from 90% silver and 10% copper; their sizes thus depended upon the amount of silver needed to equal the face value. The diameter of the current dollar coins was introduced in 1979 with the Susan B. Anthony dollar not only as a concession to the vending machine industry which wanted a smaller dollar coin usable in their machines but also as an increase in the amount of seigniorage for the US Government (the difference between what a piece of money costs to produce and its face value or the profit margin).
The four coin types in common circulation today have not had their sizes or denominations changed in well over a century, although their weights have been reduced due to the substitution of cheaper metals in their manufacture. Because of their very low values with respect to current price levels, many cash customers do not tender coins at all when paying for purchases. Businesses usually have to keep adequate amounts in coin on hand, so as to be able to make change in fractional dollar amounts. Since they do not receive the coins they need through regular trade, there is often a one-way flow of coins from the banks to the retailers, who often have to pay fees for it.
Furthermore, apart from some dollar coins, U.S. coins do not indicate their value in numerals, but in English words, and the value descriptions do not follow a consistent pattern, referring to three different units, and expressions in fractions: "One Cent"; "Five Cents"; "One Dime"; "Quarter Dollar"; the values of the coins must be therefore be learned, as the inscription, like the size, does not provide sufficient information as to the relative value of each coin.
Some efforts have been made to eliminate the penny as circulating coinage, due to its low value.
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