COIN FACTS

The whole country makes money when the Mint makes money.
This is called "seigniorage"—the difference between the
cost of making a coin and its face value. This profit runs
the Mint and puts extra funds into the country's Treasury—
funds then spent on education, health care, defense, and
other services for the nation.


Nickels, dimes, and quarters are pickled before they're
minted... not in vinegar, though, like the pickled cucumbers
you get on hamburgers. Instead, these copper-nickel blanks
are soaked in a special chemical solution. This "pickling"
washes and polishes the blanks.


In 1694, England minted "Elephant Tokens"—two half pennies
meant to increase interest in the colonies. On the reverse
one penny said, "God Preserve New England"; the other, "God
Preserve Carolina and the Lord Proprieters."



The "New Jersey Cent" was a copper coin minted from 1786 to
1788 — more than 200 years before the New Jersey quarter
became the third coin in the 50 State Quarters Program.


"Silly Head" is the popular name for a U.S. cent minted in
1839. The coin got this nickname because most people thought
the picture of Miss Liberty on the obverse (front) looked
silly.


Once, there were "white cents" that didn't look at all like
pennies. These were the Flying Eagle one cent coins of
1856–58 and the Indian Head one cent coins of 1859–64. They
were made from metal that contained 88 parts copper to 12
parts nickel, which gave them a light or white color.