United States · Numismatics

1832–1844

Hard Times tokens

Private copper, brass, and white metal on a large-cent module: emergency small change and political satire during the Panic of 1837, not United States Mint coin.

Hard Times tokens were struck mainly between 1832 and 1844, in copper, brass, and white metal, on the large-cent module — about 28 mm. They did not come from a federal mint: they filled the small-change gap when the public hoarded gold, silver, and even copper cents. Jackson vetoed the recharter of the Second Bank of the United States, shifted deposits into so-called pet banks, and on 11 July 1836 signed with Levi Woodbury the Specie Circular: from 15 August, public lands were to be paid for in coin only. Van Buren inherited, in May 1837, the suspension of specie payments. Lyman H. Low classified 164 varieties in 1899; Russell Rulau reordered them with HT numbers. The Coinage Act of 22 April 1864 criminalized private striking of one- and two-cent pieces and ended that emergency small change. This case holds the 1834 HT-10A (Low-9B), running boar and Jackson bust; the 1841 HT-16 (Low-58), ship Constitution and “Not One Cent”; the 1837 HT-34 (Low-20), donkey and turtle; and the John J. Adams store card (HT-181, Low-300), circa 1835. HT-34 is not HT-33, which reads EXECUTIVE EXPERIMENT. The HT-16 edge is not photographed, so HT-16A is not assigned.

1836

Mint medals

A United States Mint commemorative medal, with no face value. The date 1836 commemorates 23 March 1836 and leaves open the year each example was struck.

On 23 March 1836 the Philadelphia mint first used a steam press for the blow of the die. Director Robert M. Patterson had set the ceremony for 22 February, Washington’s birthday; a mechanical fault delayed it. Christian Gobrecht engraved the Liberty cap among rays and the reverse UNITED STATES MINT, FIRST STEAM COINAGE. Julian MT-20 keeps FEB. 22. Julian MT-21 reads MAR. 23, and the earliest March impressions show that date over FEB. 22. PCGS separates the yellow-bronze restrike as 783671 and publishes no mintage. This case records one example of that type, unslabbed: the yellow color and textured surface support a later restrike, and sleeve reflections prevent fixing a year of manufacture or a grade. The Smithsonian describes one example of the type in brass, 28 mm, with Gobrecht on both sides; that museum record does not authenticate this disc. Steam in the rolling mill is earlier: the director’s report of 1 January 1817, after the January 1816 fire, records a steam engine in place of horse power. The 1836 milestone is the striking.

from 1792

The Philadelphia mint

The Coinage Act of 2 April 1792 created the United States Mint in Philadelphia, then the federal capital. That house struck the 1856 gold dollar, the 1878, 1908, and 1912 quarter eagles, and the 2026 dollar in this case.

Before 1792 European coin circulated and payment was also made in kind. Congress placed the first federal mint in Philadelphia on 2 April 1792; the house stayed there when the capital moved to Washington. In its first years it struck copper cents and the first gold and silver pieces. Philadelphia uses no mint mark. This case records from that house the 1856 gold dollar, James Barton Longacre’s Type 3, the 1878 Liberty Head quarter eagle, 900-fine gold by Christian Gobrecht, and the 1908 and 1912 Indian Head quarter eagles, Bela Lyon Pratt’s incuse design. The 2026 dollar, also Philadelphia and without a mint mark, is in the Semiquincentennial chapter. Liberty Seated and the Lincoln cent sit outside this case. The 1878-CC, 1883, 1883-CC, 1884-S, 1885-CC, 1887-S, 1891-CC, 1893-CC, 1893-S, and 1893 Morgan dollars — the 1883 and 1893 pieces from Philadelphia, with no mint mark — are in the silver-dollar chapter. The First Steam Coinage medal, dated 1836, is in the Mint-medals chapter. This country’s legal-tender paper is catalogued separately, under Notaphily.

Read the Indian Head quarter eagle (1908–1929)

1878–1921

The Morgan dollar

The act of 28 February 1878 restored the 26.73 g silver dollar. This case holds the 1878 Carson City piece, in a holder labeled PCGS MS60; the 1883, 1885, 1891, and 1893 Carson City pieces, with the CC under the wreath; the 1884, 1887, and 1893 San Francisco pieces, with the S under the bow; and the 1883 and 1893 Philadelphia pieces, with no mint mark.

The coinage act of 1873 dropped the standard silver dollar. On 28 February 1878 Congress, over a veto, passed the act that authorizes its coinage and restores legal tender: the Treasury secretary was to buy each month not less than two million dollars of silver, and not more than four, and coin it into those dollars. The United States Mint sets the weight and fineness at those of the act of 18 January 1837: 26.73 g, 90% silver and 10% copper. George T. Morgan engraved the type: Liberty facing left on the obverse, and an eagle with arrows and an olive branch on the reverse. The first pieces came in 1878 at Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Carson City; New Orleans joined the next year. The series runs to 1904 and returns in 1921. This case does not cover the Peace dollar or the trade dollar. It records one 1878 Morgan dollar with a CC mint mark, in a holder labeled PCGS MS60, 7495.60/72833930 — the regular type is PCGS# 7080; that certification was not independently verified — one 1883 Morgan dollar with no mint mark, from Philadelphia, one 1884 Morgan dollar with an S mint mark, one 1883 Morgan dollar with a CC mint mark, one 1885 Morgan dollar with a CC mint mark, one 1887 Morgan dollar with an S mint mark, one 1891 Morgan dollar with a CC mint mark, one 1893 Morgan dollar with a CC mint mark, one 1893 Morgan dollar with an S mint mark, and one 1893 Morgan dollar with no mint mark, from Philadelphia. The last nine are raw and have no serial number. The 1885-CC closes Carson City’s first coinage period: the house stopped striking in November 1885 and resumed coinage on 1 July 1889. PCGS gives 228,000 pieces. The 1893-CC is Carson City’s final year of coinage; PCGS gives 677,000 business strikes (7222). The 1893-S is San Francisco’s key date; PCGS gives 100,000 business strikes (7226). After the 1962–1964 Treasury dispersals, 148,285 examples of the 1885-CC were held for the GSA sales. This 1885-CC has no documented GSA provenance. The 1878-CC keeps no GSA case either. Neither does this case’s 1893-CC. The 1893-S is raw: the photographs do not confirm authenticity.

1986–2026

American Silver Eagle

A troy ounce of .999 silver, authorized on 9 July 1985. The series has its own page. This collection records a 1988 example, with no mint mark.

On 9 July 1985 Title II of Public Law 99-61 authorized a coin of one troy ounce of .999 silver, with Liberty on the obverse and an eagle on the reverse, and a face value of one dollar. The United States Mint first struck it in 1986 and still strikes it in 2026. The obverse is Adolph A. Weinman’s Walking Liberty. John Mercanti’s reverse runs through 2021; from the middle of that year the reverse is Emily Damstra’s, sculpted by Michael Gaudioso. The bullion piece carries no mint mark. The series page holds the specifications and the records. This collection records the 1988 example. This page does not publish prices.

from 2000

The manganese-brass dollar

Since the Sacagawea dollar, the 8.10 g, 26.49 mm manganese-brass module has been that of the circulating $1. The 2026 piece uses that same alloy; it is not gold.

Circulating gold dollars ended in 1933. The 1856 piece, in the Philadelphia chapter, is that .900 gold coin. The small cupronickel Susan B. Anthony dollar (1979) yielded in 2000 to the Sacagawea manganese-brass piece — 88.5% copper, 6% zinc, 3.5% manganese, and 2% nickel — the same planchet later used for Native American dollars, Presidential dollars (2007–2016, 2020), and American Innovation dollars. The presidential-seal reverse of those Presidential dollars is Frank Gasparro’s, with his initials FG. The Semiquincentennial dollar reuses that reverse, with 250 in the shield, and changes the edge: plain, with no lettering and no mint mark, unlike Native American and American Innovation dollars. Despite the golden color, it contains no gold.

2026

Semiquincentennial

The 2020 redesign act authorized a 2026 dollar emblematic of the 250th anniversary. The Treasury chose Donald J. Trump’s portrait for the obverse.

The Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 (Public Law 116-330; 31 U.S.C. § 5112(y)(1)(C)) lets the Treasury secretary strike, during 2026, a $1 coin with a design emblematic of the Semiquincentennial. It bars portraits of living people on the reverse; it places no matching limit on the obverse. On 16 July 2026 the Treasury unveiled the type: a facing portrait by Joseph Menna (JFM), after an official White House photograph by Daniel Torok, with LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST, and the dual date 1776 ~ 2026; Gasparro’s reverse with 250 in the shield. Circulating-quality rolls and bags, Philadelphia only and without a mint mark, went on sale on 2 September 2026. A separate 24-karat one-ounce gold program is not this piece. A precedent for a living president on United States coin is the 1926 Sesquicentennial half dollar, with Calvin Coolidge.