2021 Washington quarter dollar bearing a new reverse design

The 56-coin America the Beautiful Quarters Program also instituted under the 2008 law is set to conclude with the January 2021 release of the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site quarter dollar representing the state of Alabama. April 5 is scheduled as the official release date by the U.S. Mint through the Federal Reserve of a

illustrating Gen. Washington crossing the Delaware River with his troops during the American Revolution. Issuance of the Washington quarter dollar follows from a provision of the America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, Public Law 110-456.

Buffalo Nickels! Key Data For Collectors & Surprising Facts!

President Theodore Roosevelt began the movement to make US coins more appealing in the early 1900s. His influence brought about the Lincoln cent in 1909. And, the upgrade continued after his administration. During the administration of President William Howard Taft, an artist was commissioned to create a new nickel with distinctly American themes. The result of this is the Buffalo nickel. It began its run in 1913 and continued until 1938.

1913 Buffalo Nickel James Earle Frasier was the name of the artist who created the Buffalo nickel. If you look below the date on the face of the coin, you will see an "F" for his last name "Frasier".

"F" mark on Buffalo Nickel Photo by PCGS During the first year of production, there were two designs for the back of the nickel. On the original, the bison is standing on a rounded mound of dirt. On this mound of dirt reads "FIVE CENTS". This design didn't work out well, as the wording would wear off. This version is known as "TYPE 1" or "RAISED MOUND". 1913 Raised Mound Buffalo Nickel The second design of the back of the Buffalo nickel has a flatter mound and the lettering is under it, rather than on top of it. This version is called "Type 2". That way the lettering wouldn't wear off so fast. 1913 Type 2 Buffalo Nickel

Errors and Varieties There are several interesting varieties of the Buffalo nickel. I present some here. First, is the 1916 Double Die.

1916 Buffalo Nickel, double die Photo by PCGS Here is a close-up. 1916 Buffalo Nickel, double die Photo by PCGS Next is the 1918 over 7. You can see the die has been altered to turn a "1917" nickel into a "1918" nickel. 1918 over 7 Photo by PCGS

Here is a close-up. Buffalo Nickel, Three Legged Photo by PCGS

There is variety of errored Buffalo nickels which occurred from 1913 to 1930. These were caused by over-polishing the dies. These are known as "Two Feathers" Buffalo nickels. You will notice by looking at the picture below, the third feather from the headdress of the chief, closest to the back of his neck, is missing. Not all numismatic groups recognize the Two Feather Buffalo nickel as an official variety. As you can see from the photo, PCGS does. Key Dates The 1913-S Type 2, 1913-D Type 2 and the 1921-S all had low mintage and are key dates for this reason. History Who is the chief on the face of the coin? This is actually a combination of three different chiefs. The artist, James Earle Frasier, didn't want to show favoritism to any particular tribe. So, he had three chiefs model for him. These chiefs were as follows. Chief Big Tree - Kiowa

Chief Two Moons - Cheyenne

Chief Iron Tail - Lakota

There were other Native Americans who also claimed to be models for the coin. Perhaps this is true. But, per Frasier, the above were the three. Bison or Buffalo? The animal on the back of the coin is a Bison. Although they are distant relatives of the buffalo, they are distinctly different animals.

American Bison Photo by Wikipedia The American Bison has a huge, muscular hump on its back which allows it to plow through snow easier. These are missing from Asian and African Buffalo. Also, its horns are smaller than its Asian and African ancestors. You could argue the point. However, consider this from Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biological Institute, "Though the terms are often used interchangeably, buffalo and bison are distinct animals. Old World “true” buffalo ... are native to Africa and Asia. Bison are found in North America and Europe. Both bison and buffalo are in the bovidae family, but the two are not closely related." Perhaps we should call them Bison nickels!

How Are American Silver Eagle Coins Different Than Other Coins?

COIN WISDOM Facts & History of the American Silver Eagle Coin! During the 1970's and early 80's the U.S. had an abundance of silver held in reserve. The US also had an abundance of debt. There were several plans to sell this silver for use in various programs. Occasionally sales of some of the silver did occur. Invariably this would drive down the value of silver on the market and the results were never as successful as hoped. In 1981, looking to balance the budget, President Reagan got legislation approved for 75% of the silver in the stockpile to be sold over three years. A few months later, upon anticipation of the sale of the silver stockpile, the price of silver dropped dramatically. Due to the terrible effect of the upcoming sale of silver from the government reserve, the bill was stopped by further legislation late in 1981. In 1983, Senator Jim McClure of Idaho had a bright idea. His proposal was to sell stockpiled silver, but to do so in a way that wouldn't adversely affect the silver market. This was the birth of the American Silver Eagle Bullion Coin. It took some time, but in 1986 the first American Eagle Silver Bullion Coin was produced. Specifically, what is a bullion coin? 'Bullion' is a form of a precious metal such as gold, silver, or platinum, from which coin metal alloys are made. In its pure form it is usually sold and traded in the form of bars and ingots. American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins are 99.9% pure silver and have a weight of one troy ounce (31.103 grams). These coins are valued chiefly on their bullion content. Of course, they can have a numismatic value greater than their silver content. American Silver Eagles have a value of one dollar stamped on them. Regardless of the value of silver which comprises it, the coin will always be worth at least one dollar in the U.S.. However, the coin has never been worth that little.

Famous Coin Collections of All Time

Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. (1896-1976) was a Baltimore businessman who actively collected coins from the mid-1920s until the late 1970s. He made his reputation known in numismatics for being the only person ever to assemble a complete collection of circulating United States coins by date and mint mark. The Eliasberg Sets are registered with PCGS. Eliasberg did not differentiate between business strikes and Proof strikes, nor did he collect mint errors and die varieties. The goal of his coin collection was to collect one of every type of United States coin intended for general circulation by date and mint. He also collected subtypes such as the 1873 Liberty seated dime. One subtype head arrows next to the date and the other one did not. The only coin that he did not have in his famous coin collection was the 1849 Double Eagle. There is only one of these known, and it is in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. Since this unique specimen was produced in the year before the coin officially went into production in 1850, most numismatists consider this a pattern coin and not a coin that was ever intended to circulate in American commerce. Eliasberg spared no expense to obtain all the significant rarities. His collection included a 1913 Liberty Head nickel, the unique 1873-CC no-arrows Liberty Seated dime, an 1804 silver dollar, an 1870-S three dollar gold piece and a 1933 gold $20 Saint Gaudens Double Eagle. When he learned that the 1933 gold coin might have been obtained through illegal means, he voluntarily surrendered it to the government. Bowers & Ruddy auctioned the first part of Eliasberg's collection in 1982, the second set in 1996 and the remaining lots in 1997. The total realized across all three auctions was more than $57 million

The Meaning of 'E Pluribus Unum'

E Pluribus Unum is Latin for "out of many, one." Sometimes it is translated more loosely as "one from many." E Pluribus Unum was once the motto of the United States of America and references the fact that the cohesive single nation was formed as the result of the thirteen smaller colonies joining together. Usage on Coins The United States Mint first used E Pluribus Unum on coins in 1795, on the Half Eagle $5.00 gold piece. The reverse design motif is based on the Great Seal of the United States and depicts an eagle holding a banner in its beak bearing the motto. The motto was first used on a silver coin three years later and appeared on all U.S. gold and silver coinage shortly after that. However, the use of E Pluribus Unum on United States coinage wasn't uninterrupted. In 1834, E Pluribus Unum was removed from gold coins to mark a minor debasement in the fineness of the gold. Once again, the silver coins soon followed, and the motto didn't appear on any U.S. coins. In 1866 it returned to several coin types, including the Half Eagle, Eagle ($10 gold piece), Double Eagle ($20.00 gold piece), silver dollars, and quarter dollars. In 1873, a law was passed that required E Pluribus Unum to appear on all U.S. coins when new designs went into effect. However, research of official mint records indicated that mint officials did not consider this mandatory. Therefore, they used the motto at their discretion when designing new coinage. The same records indicate that Col. Read of Uxbridge, Massachusetts was instrumental in having the motto placed on United States coins. History The motto E Pluribus Unum was first proposed by the U.S. Continental Congress in 1782, for use on the Great Seal of the United States. The immediate inspiration for the use of this term is believed to be Gentlemen's Magazine, which was an important men's magazine published in England beginning in the early 18th century. It was a very influential magazine among the intellectual elite. Every year, Gentlemen's Magazine would do a special issue, comprised of the best of the year's articles, and the Latin term E Pluribus Unum appeared on the title page as a way of explaining that this issue of the magazine became "one issue from many previous issues." Pierre Eugene du Simitiere originally suggested this motto in 1776. Historically the phrase, or a variant of it, was used by several significant authors. Sources included a poem attributed to Virgil, Confessions by St Augustine, Cicero in his De Officiis and several others. Given its rich history, it is only appropriate that the founding fathers of the United States of America chose this to be our motto. Fun Facts Just as the U.S. has thirteen original colonies, E Pluribus Unum has thirteen letters in it. The phrase ex pluribus unum goes back to ancient times, and Saint Augustine used it in his c. 397-398 Confessions (Book IV.) It has been used by the Scoutspataljon, a professional infantry battalion of the Estonian Defence Forces, since 1918. E Pluribus Unum still appears on U.S. coins even though it is no longer the official national motto! The United States Congress gave that honor to In God We Trust in 1956 by an Act of Congress (36 U.S.C. § 302). In the 1939 film The Wizard Of Oz, the Wizard gives the Scarecrow a Diploma from The Society of E Pluribus Unum. E Pluribus Unum, was first used on the 1795 Liberty Cap-Heraldic Eagle gold $5 piece.

The designation Special Mint Set is used for coins that were distributed only in mint or commemorative sets by the US mint but are otherwise similar to the regular business strike coins. Most mint sets contain “Business Strike” coins that are exactly the same as the coins that go to the banks to be used in everyday commerce. SMS coins are only made for distribution to collectors in sets sold by the mint and are special in some fashion. SMS coins can be found for the years 1965, 1966 and 1967 and include the Lincoln Penny, Jefferson Nickel, Roosevelt Dime, Washington Quarter and Kennedy half-dollar. The half-dollar is a clad composition and contains 40% silver, the same as the business strike coins of those years. During these 3 years the mint suspended proof coin production but due to the demand of collectors, they made the SMS coins instead, which are made in slower coin presses using polished dies to give a superior finish. They are not up to the standards of the proof coin of other years, yet are better quality than the business strike coins. SMS coins can also be found with a Cameo finish on them, much like the Cameo finish on a proof coin. This is due to the additional care used in striking the SMS coins. And like Cameo proof coins, Cameo SMS coins command a higher price. You will find many of these coins being sold as singles and many of the coin albums have a slot for both the regular business strike and the SMS coins. In 2005, the mint started producing satin finish coins that are only available in mint sets. These are also SMS coins. Up to that point they used business strike coins to make up the mint sets. This makes 2 distinctly different coins in the P and D mint marked coins as the satin coins are made by superior processes and have the satin finish. As of this time I have not seen that the album companies are adding slots for these SMS coins but it will come due to collector demand. A fully complete set will contain the P mint business strike and P mint satin SMS coins and the same for the D mint coins. There are a few other SMS coins that have been minted through the years. In 1994 there was a matte finish Jefferson nickel that comes in the 1993 Thomas Jefferson 250th anniversary commemorative set and then another Jefferson nickel in 1997 again with a matte finish and issued in the Botanic Garden commemorative set of the same year, both of these coins bear the P mint mark. 1998 s matte finish silver Kennedy a half dollar is another SMS coin that was issued in the Robert F and John F Kennedy commemorative set of that year. There may be others but these are the ones I am familiar with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbKsIMnFATg Welcome back! In commemoration of the 225th anniversary of the Philadelphia mint, they have decided to make a bold move and offer a one year type Lincoln cent with a physical "P" mint mark. Watch on and find out the repercussions and benefits of having a single year coin that never had a P mint mark before.Check Your 2017 Lincoln Pennies For Rare Varieties - Mint To Feature "P" Mintmark for 2017 Only!