USA COINS

USA one cent - II

In 2009, on the occasion of the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, four different one cent coins were released. These coins track the journey of Lincoln's life, with his being elected as president as the culmination of his journey.They depict the four crucial phases of the life of Lincoln: his birth, formative years, professional life and finally as the president of the United States.

Lincoln one cent: birth, Kentucky

This one cent depicts the small hut in which Abraham Lincoln was born in a Kentucky farm in 1709.

Lincoln one cent: formative years, Indiana

The Lincoln one cent of Indiana of his formative years shows the desire of a young Lincoln to read and to learn as he reads a book while working as a rail splitter.

Lincoln one cent: Professional life, Iliinois

This design features a young professional Lincoln standing before the Springfield Illinois State Capitol.

After an unsuccessful run in 1832, Lincoln was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1834. He received the highest amount of votes cast for any candidate. He served in the Illinois Legislature until 1840 serving four terms.

Elected as a Whig on August 4 ­to Illinois House of Representatives. He took his seat on December 1 at capital in Vandalia.

Lincoln one cent: presidential life, DC

The fourth one cent in the Lincoln one cent series of 2009 is based on the last stage of his life as the president in Washington DC. The picture depicts the half completed dome of the white house which was under construction at that time.

Note: After the cost of copper went up in the 1970's so much that one penny contained more than one cent worth of copper, subsequent production like these coins shown above have a Zinc base and are coated with copper. 

USA silver quarter dollar

Standing liberty quarter, 1928

The Standing Liberty Quarter considered to be one of the most attractive US coin designs by some numismatists, was issued from 1916 to 1930 by the United States Mint. Type One (1916-1917) featured Liberty on the obverse and an American eagle in flight with no stars below on the reverse. Liberty carries an upraised shield in her left hand and an olive branch in her right hand; most notably, this coin was the only circulating coin to feature Liberty with a bare breast.There is some controversy over who modeled for the Standing Liberty Quarter, but it was either Doris Doscher or Broadway actress, Irene MacDowell.

The following year, a Liberty, Type 2 (1917-1930) was issued with several design changes, most notably covering Liberty's chest with chain mail and the addition of three stars on the reverse under the eagle. The design was changed because of a public outcry regarding Liberty's bared breast.

This coin is also hard to find in higher grades, and the date wears out very quickly in issues before 1925. For issues after 1925, the date was lowered so that it would wear out after the coin is worn out. This is one of the most expensive coins in the US in higher grades.

USA Washington quarter dollar

Bicentennial quarter: drummer boy

This quarter was released on the bicentennial of the independence of the USA in 1976. It shows the figure of George Washington on the obverse and a drummer boy on the reverse. The drummer boy was a feature of the rebel continental army whose position was more important that what seems at first glance.

The position of a fifer or drummer was not necessarily an easy one to fill. They were expected to learn the many tunes played in the army, from popular melodies like "Roslyn Castle" to practical beats such as "Water Call" or "Roast Beef." In an eighteenth century army music was used to transmit orders and to regulate the daily routine of the soldiers. In camp the reveille and tattoo denoted the beginning and end of the soldier's day. Other calls signaled the men to assemble for meals or for detachments to gather wood and water. If the army was ordered to march the routine of the troops prior to setting off, and the accompanying music, was adjusted accordingly. While on the move music provided a cadence to regulate the rate of march, and in battle drums and fifes could transmit or supplement the commands of the officers and would hopefully bolster the morale of the soldiers to some degree.

Washington quarter dollar, 1977

The current quarter is nickel plated copper (8.33% Ni with the remainder Cu), weighs 5.670 grams , diameter 0.955 inches (24.26 mm), width 1.75 millimeters with a reeded edge.Before 1965, quarters contained 90% silver, 10% copper. The current regular quarter dollar has the image of the first president George Washington on the obverse, and and eagle on the reverse. This quarter was continued until 1999 when the state quarter program was started.

USA dime

Roosevelt dime, 2003

Upon his return from the Yalta Conference, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress on March 1, 1945. The President’s health was deteriorating rapidly. President Roosevelt went to a therapeutic spa he frequented since 1924 in Warm Springs, GA, for some much needed rest and recuperation. On April 12th, of the same year, he died.

Soon after the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945, legislation was introduced by Virginia Congressman Ralph H. Daughton that called for the replacement of the Mercury dime with one bearing Roosevelt's image.The dime was chosen to honor Roosevelt partly due to his efforts in the founding of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (later renamed the March of Dimes), which originally raised money for polio research and to aid victims of the disease and their families.The public had been urged to send in a dime to the Foundation, and by Roosevelt's death, the Foundation was already popularly known as the "March of Dimes."

Due to the limited amount of time available to design the new coin, the Roosevelt dime was the first regular-issue U.S. coin designed by a Mint employee in more than 40 years. Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock was chosen, as he had already designed a Mint presidential medal of Roosevelt. Sinnock's first design, submitted on October 12, 1945, was rejected, but a subsequent one was accepted on January 6, 1946.

The dime was released to the public on January 30, 1946, which would have been Roosevelt's 64th birthday. Sinnock's design placed his initials ("JS") at the base of Roosevelt's neck, on the coin's obverse. His reverse design elements of a torch, olive branch, and oak branch symbolized, respectively, liberty, peace, and victory.

Controversy immediately ensued, as strong anti-Communist sentiment in the United States led to the circulation of rumors that the "JS" engraved on the coin was the initials of Joseph Stalin, placed there by a Soviet agent in the mint.The Mint quickly issued a statement refuting this, confirming that the initials were indeed Sinnock's.

Another controversy surrounding Sinnock's design involves his image of Roosevelt. Soon after the coin's release, it was claimed that Sinnock borrowed his design of Roosevelt from a bas relief created by African American sculptor Selma Burke, unveiled at the Recorder of Deeds Building in Washington D.C. in September 1945. Sinnock denied this, claiming that he simply utilized his earlier design on the Roosevelt medal.

With the passage of the Coinage Act of 1965, the composition of the dime changed from 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper to a clad "sandwich" of copper between two layers of an alloy of 91.67 percent copper and 8.33 percent nickel.

Mercury dime, 1916

Although most commonly referred to as the "Mercury" dime, the coin does not depict the Roman messenger god. The obverse figure is a depiction of the mythological goddess Liberty wearing a Phrygian cap, a classic symbol of liberty and freedom, with its wings intended to symbolize freedom of thought. Designed by noted sculptor Adolph A. Weinman, the Winged Liberty Head dime is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful U.S. coin designs ever produced. The composition (90 percent silver, 10 percent copper) and diameter (17.9 millimeters) of the "Mercury" dime was unchanged from the Barber dime.

Weinman (who had studied under Augustus Saint-Gaudens) won a 1915 competition against two other artists for the design job, and is thought to have modeled his version of Liberty on Elsie Kachel Stevens, wife of noted poet Wallace Stevens. The reverse design, a fasces juxtaposed with an olive branch, was intended to symbolize America's readiness for war, combined with its desire for peace. Although the fasces symbol was later adopted by Benito Mussolini and his National Fascist Party, the symbol was quite common in American iconography and has generally avoided any stigma associated with its usage in wartime Italy.

This coin was minted in silver.

Barber dime, 1914

As early as 1879, public dissatisfaction with the Seated Liberty design was heard in Washington and Philadelphia. It was felt by many that the nation's coin designs were second-rate, but few could have predicted how mundane a change could really be. New designs were submitted by Mint engravers throughout the early 1880s, but the only outcome was the production of a new nickel in 1883 designed by Chief Engraver Charles Barber. In 1891, when there was much discussion of a public competition for new designs for the dime, quarter dollar and half dollar, Barber reported to Mint Director James Kimball that there was no one in the country who was capable of assisting him in preparing original designs.

What Barber did accomplish with his new dime, though, was to design and place into production a coin that would meet the striking requirements of modern, high-speed coin presses. As a Mint employee he was acutely aware of the need for coins to be designed so they would strike up with one blow from the coin press. His objection to outsiders was, no doubt, due in part to jealousy, but in all fairness he did understand the exacting specifications required to strike millions of coins for commercial purposes.

The Barber dime, as with all previous dimes, featured an image of Liberty on the obverse. She is wearing a Phrygian cap, a laurel wreath with a ribbon, and a headband with the inscription "LIBERTY". This inscription is one of the key elements used in determining the condition of Barber dimes.

USA nickel - II

Buffalo nickel/Indian head nickel, 1930

The buffalo nickel was minted for the first time in 1913. The American bison had become almost extinct because of inordinate and senseless hunting, and this was an effort to project the bison as a national symbol of the US and to put a curb on the mindless hunting and killing of the beasts. In this coin, the bison is standing on a mound. In another variant, it is standing on a line. The date on this coin is on the highest point and wears out very quickly, so it is quite common to find such coins with the date having been rubbed off and not visible.

The buffalo nickel is better known as the Indian head nickel as it shows the head of an Indian. A profile of a Native American is featured on the obverse of the coin, which was a composite portrait of three Native Americans: Iron Tail, an Oglala Sioux chief, Two Moons, a Cheyenne chief, and Big Tree, a Kiowa chief.

Liberty nickel, 1909

The liberty head nickel is also called the V nickel because the denomination was shown only as the Roman numeral V. It was minted from 1883 to 1912, but the most famous one is the liberty nickel of 1913 even though it was never supposed to be minted and was probably minted in an illegal way. The composition of the coin is 75% copper and 25% nickel.

The 1913 liberty nickel is one of the most famous coins to be minted in the last 100 years. The minting of the liberty nickel was officially up to 1912, but somehow 5 pieces of the liberty nickel were minted in 1913 and were circulated. The numismatist Samuel Brown spent quite a fortune in advertising that he would give anyone 500$ for the liberty nickel, or about 10,000 times the face value. The advertisement was there in The Numismatist in 1919. 500$ was a princely sum at that time, and given that the US was going through an economic depression at that time and millions of people were unemployed; the 1913 liberty nickel fever gripped the entire country. Trams or buses would be stopped at the stops for 10-15 minutes because the conductors would be checking for the liberty nickel in the change they got. The 1913 liberty nickel had already become a symbol of hope for a country entangled in stagflation and depression. Later on Samuel Brown displayed all five 1913 liberty nickels at the American Numismatic Association's annual convention in 1920. He had ostensibly bought them for 500$ each, but he had been an employee of the mint and he it is assumed that he had surreptitiously minted those coins and never released them for circulation. Such clandestine strikings were quite common in the 19th century.

Now the 1913 liberty nickel had started off with a price tag of 500$. With every auction, there is fresh hype and the price of the specimen shoots up. The 1913 liberty nickels have changed many hands and that includes Farouq, the king of Egypt who is said to have possessed two different 1913 liberty nickels at different times in his world class collection. In 2007, one of the specimens was sold for 5 million $ to an unnamed buyer.

USA nickel - I

Ocean in view nickel, 2005

The Lewis and Clark expedition was a two year journey(1804-1806) which was the first overland expedition to the Pacific Coast and back. It was led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, and was assisted by the Shoshone woman Sacagaewa and her French-Canadian explorer husband, Touissant Charbonneau. The expedition helped to assess accurately the resources being exchanged in the Louisiana purchase and laid much of the groundwork for the Westward expansion.

Achievements of the expedition:

1)Better knowledge of the Geography of the region with about 140 maps being made

2)Better understanding of the flora and fauna

3)Improvement of relations with Indians.

The obverse of this coin shows a modernized depiction of Thomas Jefferson, and the reverse shows a depiction of the Pacific Ocean as seen by William Clark in 1805. Clark had written in his diary: "Ocian in view! O! The joy!", but the mint thought that this spelling of ocean would be perceived to be an error and would cause lot of hoarding. So the spelling was changed from ocian to ocean..

Monticello/Jefferson nickel, 2008

From 2006 onwards, the nickel shows a forward facing Jefferson, based on the 1800 Rembrandt Peale painting of Jefferson. The reverse feaatures the Monticello, Jefferson's Virginia estate. This is the first circulation coin in the US featuring a forward facing former president.

Jefferson nickel,1980

The Jefferson nickel has been in circulation in USA for the longest period of time(1939-2003). It features the bust of Thomas Jefferson(taken from Houdon's marble bust of 1789) on the obverse, and his Virginia estate Monticello on the reverse.

Morgan dollar, 1921

The Morgan dollar was named so after its designer, George T. Morgan. It was minted from 1878 to 1904, and then in 1921.

Peace dollar, 1922

On the ending of the first world war , a commemorative coin was proposed to be minted for the end of the war. Instead, the peace dollar was issued as a circulating coin. It is so called because the word peace is written on the bottom of the reverse of the coin. It was minted from 1921 to 1928, and then again in 1934 and 1935.

These coins have a mass of 26.73gm and 90% of which is silver. The size is 39mm diameter. So they would be worth at least 600-700 rupees on metal value alone.

USA dollar

Sacagaewa dollar, 2000

The Sacagawea dollar, called by the U.S. Mint the Sacagawea Golden Dollar Coin and beginning in 2009 the Native American $1 Coin, along with the Presidential Dollar series, is one of the two current United States dollar coins. This coin was first minted by the United States Mint in 2000 and depicts the Shoshone woman Sacagawea, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, carrying her son Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. The coin's artist, Glenna Goodacre, used a 22-year-old Shoshone woman named Randy'L He-dow Teton as the model for the young Sacagawea. The Sacagaewa dollars of 2009 and 2010 have different designs on the reverse than the one shown here.

Susan B. Anthony dollar, 1979

The Susan B. Anthony dollar replaced the excessively large Eisenhower dollar in circulation. It shows women suffrage campaigner Susan B. Anthony on the obverse and the Apollo 11 insignia on the reverse, the same as on the Eisenhower dollar. It is quite easy to collect as it has very large mintages. It was minted from 1979 to 1981, and later on in 1999 also. It is a rounded coin though it looks like an 11-sided one. Due to similar size and color, this one is sometimes referred to as the Susan Anthony quarter because of its small size which is similar to a quarter.

More than 888 million Susan Anthony dollars were minted in 1979, but they failed to circulate well. At the end of the year there were millions of dollars still left in the mint's vaults. Limited quantity was produced thereafter in 1980 and in 1981, these dollars were produced as UNC sets, of which a large number were broken down. After a very long hiatus, this dollar coin was reproduced in 1999 as the dollars in circulation were nearly finished. It was replaced by the Sacagaewa in 2000.

USA Eisenhower dollar

Liberty bell, Philadelphia

Eisenhower bicentennial dollar, 1976

Released on the bicentennial of the independence of the USA i.e. in 1976, this dollar has president Eisenhower on the obverse and the liberty bell and moon on the reverse.

Tradition tells of a chime that changed the world on July 8, 1776, with the Liberty Bell ringing out from the tower of Independence Hall summoning the citizens of Philadelphia to hear the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence by Colonel John Nixon.

The Pennsylvania Assembly ordered the Bell in 1751 to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of William Penn's 1701 Charter of Privileges, Pennsylvania's original Constitution. It speaks of the rights and freedoms valued by people the world over. Particularly forward thinking were Penn's ideas on religious freedom, his liberal stance on Native American rights, and his inclusion of citizens in enacting laws.

The Liberty Bell gained iconic importance when abolitionists in their efforts to put an end to slavery throughout America adopted it as a symbol.

There is widespread disagreement about when the first crack appeared on the Bell. Hair-line cracks on bells were bored out to prevent expansion. However, it is agreed that the final expansion of the crack which rendered the Bell unringable was on Washington's Birthday in 1846.

The bell had also been rung to announce the opening of the First Continental Congress in 1774 and after the Battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775.

The Liberty Bell was known as the "Independence Bell" or the "Old Yankee's Bell" until 1837, when it was adopted by the American Anti-Slavery Society as a symbol of the abolitionist movement.

Eisenhower dollar, 1978

The Eisenhower 1 dollar was minted for an 8 year period from 1971-1978 and is named for president Dwight David Eisenhower, who appears on the obverse. It followed the Peace dollar program and was the last dollar in circulation to have a proportional amount of base metal. It has the same amount of metal as two Kennedy half dollars, four Washington quarters or ten Roosevelt dimes. It was rarely used for circulation as it was too large and cumbersome, and was replaced by the even less popular Susan Anthony dollar in 1979. The design on the reverse is the Apollo 11 insignia, which is an eagle landing on the moon with the Earth showing in the background. This design was continued on the dollar coins even after the Eisenhower was no longer minted, although in a shrunken form. The Apollo insignia continued to be on the dollar coin until the introduction of the Sacagaewa dollar.

The Eisenhower dollars are huge coins having a diameter of 38.1 mm and the weight is 22.68gm.


Born in Texas in 1890, brought up in Abilene, Kansas, Eisenhower was the third of seven sons. He excelled in sports in high school, and received an appointment to West Point. Stationed in Texas as a second lieutenant, he met Mamie Geneva Doud, whom he married in 1916.

In his early Army career, he excelled in staff assignments, serving under Generals John J. Pershing, Douglas MacArthur, and Walter Krueger. After Pearl Harbor, General George C. Marshall called him to Washington for a war plans assignment. He commanded the Allied Forces landing in North Africa in November 1942; on D-Day, 1944, he was Supreme Commander of the troops invading France.

After the war, he became President of Columbia University, then took leave to assume supreme command over the new NATO forces being assembled in 1951. Republican emissaries to his headquarters near Paris persuaded him to run for President in 1952.

"I like Ike" was an irresistible slogan; Eisenhower won a sweeping victory.

In September 1955, Eisenhower suffered a heart attack in Denver, Colorado. After seven weeks he left the hospital, and in February 1956 doctors reported his recovery. In November he was elected for his second term.

In domestic policy the President pursued a middle course, continuing most of the New Deal and Fair Deal programs, emphasizing a balanced budget. As desegregation of schools began, he sent troops into Little Rock, Arkansas, to assure compliance with the orders of a Federal court; he also ordered the complete desegregation of the Armed Forces. "There must be no second class citizens in this country," he wrote.

Eisenhower concentrated on maintaining world peace. He watched with pleasure the development of his "atoms for peace" program--the loan of American uranium to "have not" nations for peaceful purposes.

Before he left office in January 1961, for his farm in Gettysburg, he urged the necessity of maintaining an adequate military strength, but cautioned that vast, long-continued military expenditures could breed potential dangers to our way of life. He concluded with a prayer for peace "in the goodness of time." Both themes remained timely and urgent when he died, after a long illness, on March 28, 1969.

USA presidential dollar-IV

USA presidential dollar #1: George Washington

On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first President of the United States. "As the first of every thing, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent," he wrote James Madison, "it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles."

Born in 1732 into a Virginia planter family, he learned the morals, manners, and body of knowledge requisite for an 18th century Virginia gentleman.

He pursued two intertwined interests: military arts and western expansion. At 16 he helped survey Shenandoah lands for Thomas, Lord Fairfax. Commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754, he fought the first skirmishes of what grew into the French and Indian War. The next year, as an aide to Gen. Edward Braddock, he escaped injury although four bullets ripped his coat and two horses were shot from under him.

From 1759 to the outbreak of the American Revolution, Washington managed his lands around Mount Vernon and served in the Virginia House of Burgesses. Married to a widow, Martha Dandridge Custis, he devoted himself to a busy and happy life. But like his fellow planters, Washington felt himself exploited by British merchants and hampered by British regulations. As the quarrel with the mother country grew acute, he moderately but firmly voiced his resistance to the restrictions.

When the Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia in May 1775, Washington, one of the Virginia delegates, was elected Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. On July 3, 1775, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, he took command of his ill-trained troops and embarked upon a war that was to last six grueling years.

He realized early that the best strategy was to harass the British. He reported to Congress, "we should on all Occasions avoid a general Action, or put anything to the Risque, unless compelled by a necessity, into which we ought never to be drawn." Ensuing battles saw him fall back slowly, then strike unexpectedly. Finally in 1781 with the aid of French allies--he forced the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.He insisted upon a neutral course until the United States could grow stronger.

Washington enjoyed less than three years of retirement at Mount Vernon, for he died of a throat infection December 14, 1799. For months the Nation mourned him.

USA presidential dollar #2: John Adams

Adams was born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1735. A Harvard-educated lawyer, he early became identified with the patriot cause; a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses, he led in the movement for independence.

During the Revolutionary War he served in France and Holland in diplomatic roles, and helped negotiate the treaty of peace. From 1785 to 1788 he was minister to the Court of St. James's, returning to be elected Vice President under George Washington.

When Adams became President, the war between the French and British was causing great difficulties for the United States on the high seas and intense partisanship among contending factions within the Nation.

His administration focused on France, where the Directory, the ruling group, had refused to receive the American envoy and had suspended commercial relations.

Adams sent three commissioners to France, but in the spring of 1798 word arrived that the French Foreign Minister Talleyrand and the Directory had refused to negotiate with them unless they would first pay a substantial bribe. Adams reported the insult to Congress, and the Senate printed the correspondence, in which the Frenchmen were referred to only as "X, Y, and Z."

The Nation broke out into what Jefferson called "the X. Y. Z. fever," increased in intensity by Adams's exhortations. The populace cheered itself hoarse wherever the President appeared. Never had the Federalists been so popular.

President Adams did not call for a declaration of war, but hostilities began at sea. At first, American shipping was almost defenseless against French privateers, but by 1800 armed merchantmen and U.S. warships were clearing the sea-lanes.

Despite several brilliant naval victories, war fever subsided. Word came to Adams that France also had no stomach for war and would receive an envoy with respect. Long negotiations ended the quasi war.

Adams retired to his farm in Quincy. Here he penned his elaborate letters to Thomas Jefferson. Here on July 4, 1826, he whispered his last words: "Thomas Jefferson survives." But Jefferson had died at Monticello a few hours earlier.

USA presidential dollar #3: Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was born in 1743 in Albemarle County, Virginia, inheriting from his father, a planter and surveyor, some 5,000 acres of land, and from his mother, a Randolph, high social standing. He studied at the College of William and Mary, then read law. In 1772 he married Martha Wayles Skelton, a widow, and took her to live in his partly constructed mountaintop home, Monticello.

Freckled and sandy-haired, rather tall and awkward, Jefferson was eloquent as a correspondent, but he was no public speaker. In the Virginia House of Burgesses and the Continental Congress, he contributed his pen rather than his voice to the patriot cause. As the "silent member" of the Congress, Jefferson, at 33, drafted the Declaration of Independence. In years following he labored to make its words a reality in Virginia. Most notably, he wrote a bill establishing religious freedom, enacted in 1786.

Jefferson succeeded Benjamin Franklin as minister to France in 1785. His sympathy for the French Revolution led him into conflict with Alexander Hamilton when Jefferson was Secretary of State in President Washington's Cabinet. He resigned in 1793.

When Jefferson assumed the Presidency, the crisis in France had passed. He slashed Army and Navy expenditures, cut the budget, eliminated the tax on whiskey so unpopular in the West, yet reduced the national debt by a third. He also sent a naval squadron to fight the Barbary pirates, who were harassing American commerce in the Mediterranean. Further, although the Constitution made no provision for the acquisition of new land, Jefferson suppressed his qualms over constitutionality when he had the opportunity to acquire the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon in 1803.

During Jefferson's second term, he was increasingly preoccupied with keeping the Nation from involvement in the Napoleonic wars, though both England and France interfered with the neutral rights of American merchantmen. Jefferson's attempted solution, an embargo upon American shipping, worked badly and was unpopular.

Jefferson retired to Monticello to ponder such projects as his grand designs for the University of Virginia. A French nobleman observed that he had placed his house and his mind "on an elevated situation, from which he might contemplate the universe."

He died on July 4, 1826.

USA presidential dollar-III

USA presidential dollar #4: James Madison

Born in 1751, Madison was brought up in Orange County, Virginia, and attended Princeton (then called the College of New Jersey). A student of history and government, well-read in law, he participated in the framing of the Virginia Constitution in 1776, served in the Continental Congress, and was a leader in the Virginia Assembly.

As President Jefferson's Secretary of State, Madison protested to warring France and Britain that their seizure of American ships was contrary to international law. The protests, John Randolph acidly commented, had the effect of "a shilling pamphlet hurled against eight hundred ships of war."

Despite the unpopular Embargo Act of 1807, which did not make the belligerent nations change their ways but did cause a depression in the United States, Madison was elected President in 1808. Before he took office the Embargo Act was repealed.

During the first year of Madison's Administration, the United States prohibited trade with both Britain and France; then in May, 1810, Congress authorized trade with both, directing the President, if either would accept America's view of neutral rights, to forbid trade with the other nation.

Napoleon pretended to comply. Late in 1810, Madison proclaimed non-intercourse with Great Britain. In Congress a young group including Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, the "War Hawks," pressed the President for a more militant policy.

The British impressment of American seamen and the seizure of cargoes impelled Madison to give in to the pressure. On June 1, 1812, he asked Congress to declare war.

The young Nation was not prepared to fight; its forces took a severe trouncing. The British entered Washington and set fire to the White House and the Capitol.

But a few notable naval and military victories, climaxed by Gen. Andrew Jackson's triumph at New Orleans, convinced Americans that the War of 1812 had been gloriously successful. An upsurge of nationalism resulted. The New England Federalists who had opposed the war--and who had even talked secession--were so thoroughly repudiated that Federalism disappeared as a national party.

In retirement at Montpelier, his estate in Orange County, Virginia, Madison spoke out against the disruptive states' rights influences that by the 1830's threatened to shatter the Federal Union. In a note opened after his death in 1836, he stated, "The advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my convictions is that the Union of the States be cherished and perpetuated."

USA presidential dollar #5: James Munroe

Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1758, Monroe attended the College of William and Mary, fought with distinction in the Continental Army, and practiced law in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

With little Federalist opposition, he easily won re-election in 1820.Monroe made unusually strong Cabinet choices, naming a Southerner, John C. Calhoun, as Secretary of War, and a northerner, John Quincy Adams, as Secretary of State. Only Henry Clay's refusal kept Monroe from adding an outstanding Westerner.

Early in his administration, Monroe undertook a goodwill tour. At Boston, his visit was hailed as the beginning of an "Era of Good Feelings." Unfortunately these "good feelings" did not endure, although Monroe, his popularity undiminished, followed nationalist policies.

Across the facade of nationalism, ugly sectional cracks appeared. A painful economic depression undoubtedly increased the dismay of the people of the Missouri Territory in 1819 when their application for admission to the Union as a slave state failed. An amended bill for gradually eliminating slavery in Missouri precipitated two years of bitter debate in Congress.

The Missouri Compromise bill resolved the struggle, pairing Missouri as a slave state with Maine, a free state, and barring slavery north and west of Missouri forever.

In foreign affairs Monroe proclaimed the fundamental policy that bears his name, responding to the threat that the more conservative governments in Europe might try to aid Spain in winning back her former Latin American colonies. Monroe did not begin formally to recognize the young sister republics until 1822, after ascertaining that Congress would vote appropriations for diplomatic missions. He and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams wished to avoid trouble with Spain until it had ceded the Floridas, as was done in 1821.

Great Britain, with its powerful navy, also opposed reconquest of Latin America and suggested that the United States join in proclaiming "hands off." Ex-Presidents Jefferson and Madison counseled Monroe to accept the offer, but Secretary Adams advised, "It would be more candid ... to avow our principles explicitly to Russia and France, than to come in as a cock-boat in the wake of the British man-of-war."

Monroe accepted Adams's advice. Not only must Latin America be left alone, he warned, but also Russia must not encroach southward on the Pacific coast. ". . . the American continents," he stated, "by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European Power." Some 20 years after Monroe died in 1831, this became known as the Monroe Doctrine.

USA presidential dollar #6: John Quincy Adams

The first President who was the son of a President, John Quincy Adams in many respects paralleled the career as well as the temperament and viewpoints of his illustrious father. Born in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1767, he watched the Battle of Bunker Hill from the top of Penn's Hill above the family farm. As secretary to his father in Europe, he became an accomplished linguist and assiduous diarist.

After graduating from Harvard College, he became a lawyer. At age 26 he was appointed Minister to the Netherlands, then promoted to the Berlin Legation. In 1802 he was elected to the United States Senate. Six years later President Madison appointed him Minister to Russia.

Serving under President Monroe, Adams was one of America's great Secretaries of State, arranging with England for the joint occupation of the Oregon country, obtaining from Spain the cession of the Floridas, and formulating with the President the Monroe Doctrine.

Adams urged the United States to take a lead in the development of the arts and sciences through the establishment of a national university, the financing of scientific expeditions, and the erection of an observatory. His critics declared such measures transcended constitutional limitations.

The campaign of 1828, in which his Jacksonian opponents charged him with corruption and public plunder, was an ordeal Adams did not easily bear. After his defeat he returned to Massachusetts, expecting to spend the remainder of his life enjoying his farm and his books.

Unexpectedly, in 1830, the Plymouth district elected him to the House of Representatives, and there for the remainder of his life he served as a powerful leader. Above all, he fought against circumscription of civil liberties.

In 1836 southern Congressmen passed a "gag rule" providing that the House automatically table petitions against slavery. Adams tirelessly fought the rule for eight years until finally he obtained its repeal.

In 1848, he collapsed on the floor of the House from a stroke and was carried to the Speaker's Room, where two days later he died. He was buried--as were his father, mother, and wife--at First Parish Church in Quincy. To the end, "Old Man Eloquent" had fought for what he considered right.

USA presidential dollar-II

USA presidential dollar #8: Martin Van Buren

Only about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, but trim and erect, Martin Van Buren dressed fastidiously. His impeccable appearance belied his amiability--and his humble background. Of Dutch descent, he was born in 1782, the son of a tavernkeeper and farmer, in Kinderhook, New York.

Martin Van Buren was elected Vice President on the Jacksonian ticket in 1832, and won the Presidency in 1836.

Van Buren devoted his Inaugural Address to a discourse upon the American experiment as an example to the rest of the world. The country was prosperous, but less than three months later the panic of 1837 punctured the prosperity.

Basically the trouble was the 19th-century cyclical economy of "boom and bust," which was following its regular pattern, but Jackson's financial measures contributed to the crash. His destruction of the Second Bank of the United States had removed restrictions upon the inflationary practices of some state banks; wild speculation in lands, based on easy bank credit, had swept the West. To end this speculation, Jackson in 1836 had issued a Specie Circular requiring that lands be purchased with hard money--gold or silver.

In 1837 the panic began. Hundreds of banks and businesses failed. Thousands lost their lands. For about five years the United States was wracked by the worst depression thus far in its history.

Programs applied decades later to alleviate economic crisis eluded both Van Buren and his opponents. Van Buren's remedy--continuing Jackson's deflationary policies--only deepened and prolonged the depression.

Declaring that the panic was due to recklessness in business and overexpansion of credit, Van Buren devoted himself to maintaining the solvency of the national Government. He opposed not only the creation of a new Bank of the United States but also the placing of Government funds in state banks. He fought for the establishment of an independent treasury system to handle Government transactions. As for Federal aid to internal improvements, he cut off expenditures so completely that the Government even sold the tools it had used on public works.

Inclined more and more to oppose the expansion of slavery, Van Buren blocked the annexation of Texas because it assuredly would add to slave territory--and it might bring war with Mexico.

Defeated by the Whigs in 1840 for reelection, he was an unsuccessful candidate for President on the Free Soil ticket in 1848. He died in 1862.

USA presidential dollar #7: Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) was the seventh President of the United States, serving from 1829 to 1837. Sometimes nicknamed “Old Hickory,” Jackson was the first president not born an aristocrat. Andrew Jackson’s Scotch-Irish parents Andrew Jackson, Sr. and Elizabeth “Betty” Hutchinson immigrated to the US from Carrickfergus, in modern-day Northern Ireland, in 1765.

There is a dispute over his place of birth. While he claimed to have been born in South Carolina, he might have done so for political purposes. The two most likely places were Waxhaw, North Carolina or Lancaster, South Carolina which are very close. The line between the states was not yet drawn at the time of his birth.

During the Revolutionary War Jackson and his brother Robert joined the Continental Army as couriers. At one point they were taken prisoner; when they refused to shine the boots of one of their captors, the officer lashed out with his saber, wounding Jackson on the hand and forehead. Along with the scars from the incident, he carried a hatred of the British for the rest of his life. The boys caught smallpox during this period and, although Jackson survived, Robert succumbed to the disease. These hard experiences explain Jackson’s tough, sometimes violent character. When insulted, he was not opposed to resolving the matter with pistols.

Jackson remained in the army and prospered. He became a national hero after defeating the British in the 1815 Battle of New Orleans. Afterwards, he fought the Creek Wars and the Seminole War, invading Florida and becoming its military governor in 1819 after it was ceded to the United States by Spain in the Adams-Onis Treaty.

In the Presidential Election of 1824 Jackson won both more popular and electoral votes than any other candidate, but did not receive an overall majority. The election went to the House of Representatives, where John Quincy Adams was chosen as President.

Jackson felt that the 1824 election had been stolen from him and the will of the people ignored. Jackson and his supporters were furious and immediately started campaigning for the next election in 1828. Jackson beat Adams with a substantial majority, and took office as President in 1829.

USA presidential dollar #10: John Tyler

John Tyler(1790 – 1862) was the tenth President of the United States (1841–1845) and the first to succeed to the office following the death of a predecessor.

A longtime Democratic-Republican, Tyler was nonetheless elected Vice President on the Whig ticket. Upon the death of President William Henry Harrison on April 4, 1841, only a month after his inauguration, the nation was briefly in a state of confusion regarding the process of succession. Ultimately the situation was settled with Tyler becoming President both in name and in fact. Tyler took the oath of office on April 6, 1841, setting a precedent that would govern future successions and eventually be codified in the Twenty-fifth Amendment.

Once he became president, he stood against his party's platform and vetoed several of their proposals. In result, most of his cabinet resigned and the Whigs expelled him from their party.

Arguably the most famous and significant achievement of Tyler's administration was the annexation of the Republic of Texas in 1845. Tyler was the first president born after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, the only president to have held the office of President pro tempore of the Senate, and the only former president elected to office in the government of the Confederacy during the Civil War (though he died before he assumed said office).

USA presidential dollar #11: James K. Polk

James Knox Polk (1795-1849) was the 11th President of the United States (1845–1849). Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He later lived in and represented the state of Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as Speaker of the House (1835–1839) and Governor of Tennessee (1839–1841) before becoming president.

A firm supporter of Andrew Jackson, Polk was the last strong pre-Civil War president. Polk is noted for his foreign policy successes. He threatened war with Britain then backed away and split the ownership of the Northwest with Britain. He is more famous for leading the nation into the Mexican–American War, in which the US was victorious. He lowered the tariff and established a treasury system that lasted until 1913.

As president, Polk "expanded the Union by settling claims to Texas and the Oregon Territory and by acquiring California and the Southwest". The expansion reopened a furious national debate over allowing slavery in the new territories. The controversy was inadequately arbitrated by the Compromise of 1850, and finally found its ultimate resolution on the battlefields of the U.S. Civil War. Polk signed the Walker Tariff that brought an era of nearly free trade to the country until 1861. He oversaw the opening of the U.S. Naval Academy and the Smithsonian Institution, the groundbreaking for the Washington Monument, and the issuance of the first postage stamps in the United States, introduced by his Postmaster General Cave Johnson.

Being satisfied with the accomplishments of his term, he did not seek re-election, and retired as promised. He died of cholera three months after his term ended. Scholars have ranked him favorably on the list of greatest presidents for his ability to set an agenda and achieve all of it. Polk has been called the "least known consequential president" of the United States.

USA half dollar (silver)

The US half dollar has a diameter of 30mm, that is the size of the Nehru 5 rupee coin or British India silver rupee coins. The coins shown below on this page are all silver coins and the these would be worth about 300-350 rupees each on metal value alone as per their size and weight.

Franklin Half dollar, 1958

The "Franklin Half" is a coin of the United States, minted from 1948 to 1963. The coin pictured Benjamin Franklin on the obverse and the Liberty Bell on the reverse. A small eagle to the right of the bell was necessitated by law; ironically, Franklin himself had opposed the selection of the eagle as the US national symbol, preferring the turkey as a "more noble bird". A bill rushed through Congress after the assassination of John F. Kennedy caused the Franklin half to be replaced by the current Kennedy half dollar in February 1964, nine years before the design would otherwise have been eligible for a change.

This half dollar coin was minted for 9 years, and probably circulated for a little over 10 years as in 1965, the metal for minting the coin was changed from silver to nickel because of the rising silver prices. So people would have kept the silver half dollar with them instead of spending it, and this may be a reason that a large part of the surviving Franklin half dollars and 1964 Kennedy silver half dollars are in good condition. The coin shown above is in BU condition.

Walking liberty half dollar, 1945

The Barber half dollar, though very widely used in circulation, had quite an unpopular design. So a redesign program was started by the then president Theodore Roosevelt for new coinage, as a result of which new coins like the mercury dime or the walking liberty half dollar shown above came into circulation. Many people, including myself, consider the obverse of this coin to be the most beautiful and most well designed silver coin to be circulated in the US.

Barber Half dollar, 1905

In 1897, the then US mint director James Kimball submitted his report that the time was due for a redesign of the circulation coins. Some 10 eminent designers were asked to give their designs, but they asked for a preposterous amount for the work. So, the next step was a contest open for the general public for the design. As it is, none of the submitted designs proved to be satisfactory and were rejected. Enter Charles E. Barber, who was given the task of making designs for the new coins. Thus started the series of Barber quarters and dimes, and also the Barber half dollar shown above.

I know what you are thinking now. Why have I put up such a worn out coin here on my site? The fact is, the Barber half and quarter dollars are a conditional rarity, which means that it is very hard to find in higher grade or condition. A Barber half in XF condition would definitely be very rare in XF condition and even in VF condition, it is still quite a valuable coin. I rate the coin shown above as being in VG condition, and i paid 10$ for this one(that is 20 times the face value). The reason for the poor condition is that the Barber series coins were very heavily used in circulation so are highly worn out. This is especially true for the Barber half dollar. From a lot of Barber half dollars, about 85% are expected to be below F condition, and as many as 40% to be below G condition. Thats how worn out these coins are.

The obverse shows the Liberty head with a cap and wreath. This was inspired from ancient Greek and Roman styles. The word 'LIBERTY' appeared on the headband in incuse . The reverse shows an eagle carrying a banner which reads 'E. PLURIBUS UNUM' meaning from many, one. The 13 stars above the eagle represent the original 13 American colonies. In a coin with this much wear and tear, that is not visible.

$$ U.S. dollar $$

The U.S. coins show "Liberty" , "In god we trust" , the year and a well known figure on the obverse; and the "United States of America" , "E Pluribus unum" , a well known building or statue and the denomination on the reverse. 

The general meaning of each Latin word is clear: Pluribus is related to the English word: "plural." Unum is related to the English word: "unit.". E Pluribus Unum describes an action: Many uniting into one. An accurate translation of the motto is " Out of many, one" – a phrase that elegantly shows the unity of the United States, which is comprised of fifty different states. "E Pluribus Unum" was suggested by the committee Congress appointed on July 4, 1776 to design "a seal for the United States of America."

"In God We Trust" first appeared on a coin in 1864. It became the official motto of the US after the passing of the Congress act in 1956.

one cent/penny,2002

The obverse shows the figure of Abraham Lincoln, who was the 16th president of the US, elected as the first Republican president in 1860. He is widely known for his stand against slavery, and his work for the rights of the black Americans. This coin was first minted in1909. It is made of copper plated zinc, and is also called a penny. The diameter is 19mm.

five cent/nickel, 1980

The five cent coin is also called a nickel. The obverse shows Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the US and the principal author of the declaration of independence. He was one of the most influencial founding fathers of repulicanism in the United States. The reverse shows the Monticello, which was the estate of Thomas Jefferson. This coin is struck in Nickel. The diameter is 21.2mm and the weight is 5gm.

10 cent/dime 1996

The ten cent or dime has the face of Franklin D. Roosevelt on the obverse. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the 32nd president of the US, and was a central figure during the 20th century, in times of the economic crisis and the 2nd world war. He came to the office in 1933 and served till 1945. He was the only American president to have served more than two terms. During the great depression of the 1930s, Roosevelt introduced the new deal to provide relief for the unemployed and recovery of the economy. As Britain warred the Axis nations, Roosevelt provided lent lease to Winston Churchill before America's entry into the war in 1941.

On the reverse , we can see a torch, olive branch and oak branch. The dime is minted in cupro-nickel.

25 cent/quarter, 1977

The twenty five cent or quarter shows George Washington on the obverse. George Washington was one of the leading figures in the US freedom struggle and was also the first president of US, in 1776.He became the commander-in-chief of the revolutionary forces in 1775 and led the forces to victory in the American revolutionary war. The reverse shows the bald eagle, which contains the mottoes "in god we trust" , and "E Pluribus Unum". This coin was struck in Copper-Nickel.

Posted By :Shubham Gupta