United States coinage
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The currently authorized denominations of circulating United States coins are:

• One-cent coin ("penny"), $0.01
• Five-cent coin ("nickel"), $0.05
• Dime, $0.10
• Quarter, $0.25
• Half-dollar, $0.50
• Dollar, $1.00

All coins are fractions of the United States dollar and are created by the United States Mint.

Several non-circulating bullion coins are also produced by the United States Mint:

• Hundred-dollar bullion coin, $100, one ounce platinum
• Fifty-dollar bullion coin, $50, half-ounce platinum
• Fifty-dollar bullion coin, $50, one ounce gold
• Twenty-five-dollar bullion coin, $25, half-ounce gold
• Twenty-five-dollar bullion coin, $25, quarter-ounce platinum
• Ten-dollar bullion coin, $10, tenth-ounce platinum
• Ten-dollar bullion coin, $10, quarter-ounce gold
• Five-dollar bullion coin, $5, tenth-ounce gold
• One-dollar bullion coin, $1, one-ounce silver

Historical denominations of United States coins, which no longer circulate, include:

• Half-cent coin
• Two-cent coin
• Three-cent coin
• Half-dime coin
• Twenty-cent coin
• Two-and-one-half dollar coin or "quarter-eagle"
• Three-dollar coin
• Four-dollar coin
• Five-dollar coin or "half-eagle"
• Ten-dollar coin or "eagle"
• Twenty-dollar coin or "double-eagle"

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 Act of Congress that originally authorized them ("An Act establishing a Mint, and regulating Coins of the United States", section 9, April 2, 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).

The current dollar coin has an image of Sacagawea on the obverse, and is minted of a golden-colored brass-manganese alloy. This "golden dollar" was designed to replace the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin, which was produced from 1979-1981 and again in 1999. The size, weight, and electromagnetic characteristics of the Sacagawea dollar exactly match those of the Susan B. Anthony dollar, avoiding any need to modify vending machines.

External link

• United States Mint
• Page of 1792 Mint and Coinage Act (Describes the first completely regulated U.S. coinage system.)

The original article can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_coinage.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.