Talk:Coins of the United States dollar/Archive 1

From 'needs attention' (taken care of, IMHO)

 * United States coinage -- Can you add the name of the design on the back of the dime?? User 66.32.157.77

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)

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)

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. &mdash; MrDolomite | Talk 06:23, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

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. Rever e ndG 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

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

Untitled
I don't have time to fix this myself but dimes, quarters and half dollars produced up until 1964 contained 90% silver. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.149.58.138 (talk) 09:18, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

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

Error in table - dollar coin composition
There is an error in the table in the metallic composition of the Sacagawea and Presidential dollar coins. According to the US Mint web site (http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/?action=coin_specifications) the compostion should be 88.5% Cu, 6% Zn, 3.5% Mn and 2% Ni. 204.147.223.1 (talk) 23:39, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

Use of term "penny" versus "cent"
Please note that United States coinage does not include a "penny". The official term is "cent" in the United States (and it in fact states this on the cent). The UK, however, does in fact use the term penny. I believe that the term penny should be changed to cent under the "Criticism" section. 76.105.195.53 (talk) 04:13, 22 November 2008 (UTC)


 * That there is a non-free use rationale on the image's description page for the use in this article.
 * That this article is linked to from the image description page.

This is an automated notice by FairuseBot. For assistance on the image use policy, see Media copyright questions. --01:15, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

wheat penny obverse side
I think that the 0.01$ coin obverse side in the table is wrong - taken from 2005-series? 213.240.214.141 (talk) 06:02, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

Mass and composition of Penny, 1959-82
In the "Coins in Circulation" table, I revised the composition and mass of the penny to agree with the note 1 below the table, and also the description in Penny (United States coin). Ie: I inserted the cells for Mass and Composition for 1959-1982.

While this revision agrees with several online sources I found, none seemed to qualify as authoritative, and the wikipedia Penny article also doesn't have a citation for this. (I did weigh some actual pennies of different dates and these agreed.)

Also, at this point, the formatting of the table is quite funky -- the mass/composition rows don't align with the Description rows. However, it's going to take someone considerable patient work to introduce the extra row(s) that are needed so I stayed away from messing with it. Gwideman (talk) 22:08, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Composition for dime not on chart
Someone edit it in.Metal composition of dime is 91%copper and rest nickel roughly. Here's the info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dime_%28United_States_coin%29 --69.152.35.105 (talk) 05:16, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

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)
 * I think someone was having us on just a bit. :-)  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.246.173.144 (talk) 02:50, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

It would be more important IMHO to note that US coins are "coin-struck," meaning that if you flip a US coin from top to bottom, the reverse image is right-side-up, whereas all foreign coins are "medal-struck," meaning that if you flip a foreign coin from top to bottom, the reverse image is upside-down. Jessemckay (talk) 08:19, 28 February 2014 (UTC)

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)


 * Mintage statistics reveal that 482 billion cents of the Lincoln design have been struck as of 2012, of which 25.79 billion cents have the Wheat reverse (a bit more than 5 percent). Jessemckay (talk) 09:35, 28 February 2014 (UTC)

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)


 * A total of 911 million Anthony dollars were struck from 1979-1981 including 1999 issues. Jessemckay (talk) 09:38, 28 February 2014 (UTC)

"Rare"
Kennedy 1/2-Dollar, rare? One-Dollar coins, rare? Come on; no way are these "rare." Heck, I rember seeing Morgan Dollars when I was a kid a lot, for example; it was the only thing they used over at Vegas before the prices of silver and gold started going up in the 60's. And I still get a lot of Kennedy's; all you have to do is ask the cashier or teller, they won't bite I assure you.

In fact, up to a couple of decades ago, you could still get $1000.00 Bills from the tellers if you just knew how to ask.

So I think the "(rare)" thingy there looks stupid anyway; why not just remove it all together?

207.151.38.178 (talk) 01:28, 24 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Hmm... My sister visited U.S. and brought me some coins. She brought three different $1 coins, but did not see a 50 cent coin there. According to that the $1 is not rare, and $0.50 is. 82.141.66.232 (talk) 10:18, 28 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Halves are as "rare" as $2 bills, i.e. where there are "plenty" of them around, no institutions give them out as change nor do any vending machines. They just don't circulate. Dollar coins, however, are more than commonplace in urban areas and imho do not merit the "rare" tag at all as they are always given out by train ticket and other vending machines, are accepted by 90% of vending machines nation-wide, and occasionally show up in change. אמר Steve Caruso 05:26, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

Approximate mintages for half dollar coin series: Walking Liberty (1916-1947) 485 million; Franklin (1948-1963) 450 million; Kennedy (1964-date) 4.1 billion. (SPECIAL NOTE: Kennedy 90% silver (1964) 430 million; 40% silver (1965-1970) 849 million; copper-nickel (1971-date) 2.82 billion. No business strikes of 50c since 2001.) Jessemckay (talk) 09:54, 28 February 2014 (UTC)

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)
 * The argument could be made that nearly any coin once released to general circulation (in other words, not bullion or commemorative coins) remains in circulation for as long as it remains legal tender, and as long as its metal or numismatic value doesn't significantly exceed its face value.  Eisenhowers are still in circulation -- I personally have randomly received them several times, and found that bank tellers fairly frequently have them if you ask specifically for $1 coins. (I'm told banks prefer to get rid of Eisenhowers because automatic coin-counting machines choke on them.)  Think about it -- paper bills wear out much faster than coins, and it's been a long time since $2 bills were printed, and they're still circulating.  Wheat pennies are still obvious in circulation because huge numbers of them were struck.  Eisenhowers are less obvious because small numbers were struck, and because most people (except for nerds like me) dislike their size and mass.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.246.173.144 (talk) 03:02, 11 September 2012 (UTC)


 * Approximate mintages for dollar coins 1840-date: Seated (1840-1870) 6.5 million; Morgan (1878-1904;1921) 657 million; Peace (1921-1935) 190 million; Eisenhower (1971-1978) 729 million; Anthony (1979-1981;1999) 911 million; Sacagawea (2000-date) 1.5 billion. Jessemckay (talk) 09:43, 28 February 2014 (UTC)


 * According to the US Treasury, $2 notes are still being printed. (2012 production figure: 134.4 million notes) http://moneyfactory.com/uscurrency/annualproductionfigures.html Jessemckay (talk) 10:02, 28 February 2014 (UTC)

Historical basis for size and weight
This section states as follows:

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.

This is mostly incorrect, as the metal value of these coins was well under face value for many years, until the early 1960s. In 1960 the silver in a dime was worth less than four cents, and in the late 19th century silver's low market value was the main underlying premise of the Free Silver movement. This raises the question of why silver was used in the first place. I believe it was simply because thousands of years of tradition dictated that coins should be made out of metals traditionally held to be precious, even in cases where that metal's value wasn't sufficient to substantiate the coin's monetary value. In face value silver coins were worth a lot more than even the silver they contained, because unlike today a coin was supposed to be valuable. Today you can sell a pre-1965 quarter for a few bucks; in 1960 you could take that same quarter down to Main Street and buy what, today, would be several dollars worth of merchandise.--Pithecanthropus4152 (talk) 21:44, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

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)
 * Perhaps the inclusion criterion for "currently in circulation" should be whether a coin's largest value is face value, metallic value, or numismatic value. Though the practise is illegal, pre-1982 pennies are steadily being removed -- mined -- from circulating currency for their copper value; and as bullion coins have considerably higher metal value than face value, they are not circulated as currency.  Similarly, Indian-head nickels, at least those in good condition, have a higher value to the collector than to the cashier, and therefore tend to leave circulation  If Eisenhower dollars are worth more as collector's items than as currency, they shouldn't be considered to be "in general circulation".  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.246.173.144 (talk) 02:49, 11 September 2012 (UTC)


 * An Ike dollar stashed away in a sock drawer or collector's album is technically "in circulation", but I would consider the phrase misleading. I wouldn't consider that any Ikes are in circulation, on the assumption that your bank teller is extremely unlikely to have them.  They might have Sac dollars or Presidential dollars, but I question whether even this counts as circulation.  IMO the definition of circulation should be stricter and includes only the four lowest denominations, as it has for generations.--Pithecanthropus4152 (talk) 21:45, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

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)


 * Up through the mid 19th century there was a chronic shortage of U.S.-minted fractional coinage, so people used whatever alternatives were available in their region. This was much like conditions in Europe, where pence, crowns, marks, thalers, and shillings were made by many different authorities, and circulated freely throughout the region.  As a matter of face British shillings were often used in the northeastern U.S., and were mentioned several times by Solomon Northup in his memoir.--Pithecanthropus4152 (talk) 21:53, 27 July 2014 (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)

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 don't think I want foreigners to understand our coinage, because it's an embarrassment to me as an American.--Pithecanthropus4152 (talk) 21:58, 27 July 2014 (UTC)


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

obsolete?
the so called obsolete section is confusing and nonfactual. either the term used on WP needs to be defined so as not to confuse people, or it needs to actually follow the legal term of being obsolete. Eisenhower, for example, is no longer minted, but not obsolete. hard to find, yes; legal currency, yes. this page defines what the current legal coins for US use are http://www.usmint.gov/faqs/circulating_coins/?action=faq_circulating_coin.

CENT 1793 TO DATE

NICKEL FIVE-CENT 1866 TO DATE

DIME 1796 TO DATE

QUARTER DOLLAR 1796 TO DATE

HALF DOLLAR 1794 TO DATE

DOLLAR 1794 TO DATE

anything not of those denominations or older than those dates are "obsolete" coins. this means liberty and indian head nickels, indian head cents, winged liberty dimes, liberty quarters, liberty and franlin halves, trade and morgan and peace dollars are all still legal currency; though all have since stopped being minted and put into circulation. none of these listed coins (save for maybe the trade dollar) have been demonetized. shadzar-talk 07:31, 29 August 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks to whomever corrected part of the issue here and fixed the table of circulating coins, (I think I might have broke it a little when I tried to fix it.) Is there a reason that Ike dollar do not appear in either area? SBA are no longer minted but accepted as money, and Ikes are as well. They are within the range of coins that are still money in the above list. They may be harder to find like Morgan or Peace dollars, but ALL are still money even though they, unlike the large coronet cents, are larger than current circulating coins of it's denomination. Not to mention they are actually in circulation, so if anyone looking here to see what is in circulation needs or want to know, they should be in the table. (Again, I am likely to break the table if I were to try to include them, so if consensus states they belong in the circulating table, someone much better at it, might need to include them.)


 * I will be happy to provide the information needed to include them on the table, if they are to be added. shadzar-talk 05:25, 2 August 2014 (UTC)

Historical coinage
Would there be any objection if I worked on adding a section on historical coinage containing a complete typeset (high res images) of US coins from 1793 to 1943?--Godot13 (talk) 05:45, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

Eisenhower Dollars/ Franklin Half Dollars
I feel as though Eisenhower Dollars (1971-1978), and Franklin Half Dollars (1948-1963) should be added to this table. Although Franklin halves are 90% silver, and Eisenhower dollars are rarely seen in circulation, I do not believe either have been "taken out of circulation". The Eisenhower Dollar was the predecessor of the SBA Dollar, and actually has the same reverse. Both failed to circulate, as unfortunately is the trend of halves and dollar coins in the United States. However, I think the Franklin Half Dollar and Eisenhower Dollar should be added to the chart mainly for the reason that they were not discontinued that far into the past. (Franklins 50 year years, Eisenhowers, 36 years ago). That is just my opinion. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.151.125.53 (talk) 18:50, 2 October 2014 (UTC)


 * The problem with both those coins is that while they were never officially taken out of circulation, time (and in the case of the Franklin, the price of silver) has done that job. Buffalo nickels and Indian Head cents were never "taken out of circulation", but I don't know of anyone who would say that they're really still in circulation. It's actually been 38 years for the Ike, which was nearly the amount of time that the Buffalo nickel had been out of circulation when the last Ike was minted in 1978.  By that time (and I was old enough that I was scouring rolls from the bank), buffs had essentially disappeared-I searched close to $1000 in nickels, and found exactly one.Almostfm (talk) 08:37, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

Why is there only metric?
I don't mind if the measurements are metric first, but at least include us customary units in parentheses. I will be adding them myself (post look edit: I don't know how to edit a table) 69.161.3.182 (talk) 07:18, 3 June 2016 (UTC)


 * because the coins are made with metric measurements shadzar-talk 15:11, 16 June 2018 (UTC)

Fugio cent
An answer to your question "Is [the Fugio cent] considered a coin based on the dollar?" The answer is yes, and no. The modern United States dollar was created in 1792, replacing the Continental Currency (which was also known as the "US dollar" at one time). Since the Fugio cent was minted in 1787, it was based on the Continental Currency. - ZLEA  T \ C 17:59, 15 June 2019 (UTC)

2021 Morgan and Peace Dollars
Will these when made be bullion, commemorative, or circulation? American Innovation dollars are listed in the circulation table, but not minted FOR circulation, although these types of coins always end up in circulation. So modern Morgan and Peace dollars are likely to end in circulation as well? Currently Morgan and Peace dollars arent even listed on this article at all. shadzar-talk 21:38, 9 January 2021 (UTC)

2021 Morgan and Peace Dollars
Will these when made be bullion, commemorative, or circulation? American Innovation dollars are listed in the circulation table, but not minted FOR circulation, although these types of coins always end up in circulation. So modern Morgan and Peace dollars are likely to end in circulation as well? Currently Morgan and Peace dollars arent even listed on this article at all. shadzar-talk 21:38, 9 January 2021 (UTC)

2021 Morgan and Peace Dollars
Will these when made be bullion, commemorative, or circulation? American Innovation dollars are listed in the circulation table, but not minted FOR circulation, although these types of coins always end up in circulation. So modern Morgan and Peace dollars are likely to end in circulation as well? Currently Morgan and Peace dollars arent even listed on this article at all. shadzar-talk 21:38, 9 January 2021 (UTC)

I don't have any idea why some bot keeps removing this, but it is important to figure out and not nearly somethign that shoudl be archived as it is only a few months old and the coins have not released yet. There has been ZERO time to talk about it, so STOP archiving this section! shadzar-talk 11:07, 11 March 2021 (UTC)
 * It's a non circulating commemorative that is larger than the Innovation dollars and made of silver. They won't circulate.--Wehwalt (talk) 20:16, 11 March 2021 (UTC)
 * So when more info about it appears, it should be placed in the Bullion table with the American Silver Eagle? shadzar-talk 11:39, 12 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Added US Mint information on on the new Morgan and Peace Dollars to their respective articles. Where anything should be linked here in the event any of these coins end up in circulation like MANY coins do, i still dont know. shadzar-talk 21:18, 21 April 2021 (UTC)

Coins in Circulation Inconsistencies
I am confused with the criteria for the selection of which coins are listed in this table and the selection of which compositions are listed. If for the dollar coin, the Eisenhower, Anthony, Sacagawea are listed why wouldn't Indian cent, Buffalo nickel, Mercury/Barber dimes, Liberty/Barber quarters, Franklin/Liberty/Barber halves be listed? Additionally, for the dollar, American Innovation dollar is listed but it is stated that it isn't in circulation. The A.I. dollar is a business strike but not circulated, similar to the half.

Another inconsistency is the composition column. While the cent's composition is listed in the table through several changes the other compositions are only listed as footnotes.

My suggestion for what this table should be is "US Business Strike Coins" and either list all of the business strikes or set a cut off date for the table, e.g. "US Business Strike Coins since 1909." Kevinskogg (talk) 17:42, 8 May 2021 (UTC)
 * I think at least the Eisenhower dollar should be removed because it is highly unlikely that any still circulate. I'm neutral about the Anthony dollar because, although it is still unlikely to be found in circulation, it is still a relatively recent issue (the last was minted just 22 years ago) and probably still make up a sizable portion of the limited number of dollar coins in circulation.  Most other obsolete coins in circulation are most likely the result of collectors releasing them into circulation for coin hunts rather than the Mint's failure to remove them from circulation.  As for the American Innovation dollars, they are classified by the Mint as "Circulating Coin Collectibles".  While American Innovation dollars, and all dollar coins for that matter, are not currently being produced for circulation, they will be if the need arises for more such coins.  Therefore they are still technically circulating coins.
 * As for the composition column, we should probably only list the cent's current composition with the previous compositions listed in a footnote.  Do you have any thoughts on this? -  ZLEA  T \ C 02:22, 9 May 2021 (UTC)
 * The Eisenhower is no longer in circulation, period. They are undoubtedly legal tender (which doesn't mean anyone has to take them, just that the government will accept them in payment) but once they reach a bank, unless someone asks for them, they will either sit in a vault or go back to the Fed to be melted. As for the Anthony, they have the same magnetic signature as the later dollars, so they can circulate. I remember at one time the Fed was pulling them out and melting them but I don't know if they are still doing that. There's probably enough out there, with people spending coins put aside in 1979, that it can be classified as circulating. As for the other denominations, probably enough half dollars circulate around casinos that it is nominally a circulating coin. Regarding the older stuff, my personal opinion is that nothing before 1959 except Jefferson nickels, and no silver, circulate, but there's nothing scientific or verifiable about that. No opinion on the footnote.--Wehwalt (talk) 15:21, 9 May 2021 (UTC)

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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)

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