COIN FACTS

"In God We Trust" was first used on coins during the Civil
War.  This inscription was added to the two-cent piece of
1864. But it didn't become necessary to add it to all coins
until 1955. The inscription "E Pluribus Unum," which means
"One from Many" (as in one country made from many states)
was first used on the gold $5 piece of 1795.

                      

The first U.S. commemorative coin was produced in 1892 for
the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. It featured
Christopher Columbus, the man then credited with discovering
the "New World." In 2000, another commemorative coin was
produced to honor Leif Ericson, whom we now know reached
the shores of the New World almost 500 years before Columbus.

                       

Calvin Coolidge was the first President to have his portrait
appear on a coin struck during his lifetime. The historic
image was on the obverse of the 1926 Sesquicentennial of
American Independence.



The first coin to feature an African-American was the
Booker T. Washington Memorial Half Dollar. It was minted
from 1946 to 1951. A National Monument was designated to
Washington in Hardy, Virginia, on April 5, 1956.


                         

The dollar, half-dollar, quarter, and 10-cent (dime)
denominations were originally produced from precious metals
(gold and silver). The reeded edges were created to make
sure no one would alter the coins and try to file off the
edges to retrieve some of the precious metals.

                         

Mint marks show what minting facility your coins came from—
"P" for Philadelphia, "D" for Denver, and "S" for San
Francisco. This mark can be found to the right of the
subject's face on the obverse side of each circulating coin—
with the exception of the "Philadelphia" Lincoln cent, which
has no mint mark.