National Coin Week 2013
Happy National Coin Week 2013! National Coin Week was started to help people get to know about numismatics...the hobby and study of coins and paper money.
In 1983, President Reagan set aside the third week in April as a time for people to think about coins. Why? Because collecting coins can help you learn about science, history, and important people, places, and events. Besides, lots of people find that collecting coins is just plain fun!
This year's theme is "Buffalo Nickel Centennial: Black Diamond Shines Again." What history can you learn from coins? National Coin Week is a good time to find out...and H.I.P. Pocket Change is the perfect place!
Fitting Festivities
In 2013, National Coin Week will run from April 21 to 27. Here are some ideas on how you and your class(es) can celebrate!
Related Lesson Plans and Coins
Take a look at these lesson plans, Teacher Features, and coins relating to bison and Native Americans:
- The Native American $1 Coins lesson plans, the 2012 "Trade Routes in the 17th Century" design includes Native American history and animals
- Coin Trading Cards lesson plan on coin data to use in making trading cards
- The Journey of Sacajawea on the life of Sacajawea
- The Westward Journey Nickel Series, 2005 American Bison Nickel on the bison
- Protect for Safekeeping, North Dakota quarter, grades 2 and 3 (2006, lesson 4) on conservation and endangered species
- Kansas Clues, Kansas quarter, grades 2 and 3 (2005, lesson 4) on conservation and endangered species
- Protect for Safekeeping, North Dakota quarter, grades 2 and 3 (2006, lesson 4) on conservation and endangered species
- Yellowstone National Park quarter, 2010 generic plans, all grades on the bison and geysers
More Lesson Plans
The Educators area offers hundreds of lesson plans covering all major subject areas. All are written by teachers and adhere to national standards, so you're sure to find plans you can use, from kindergarten through high school.
We have short lessons called Teacher Features, full-fledged plans listed by grade and subject, and a collection that relates to each circulating coin called the Coin Curricula Center.
You'll also find plans that use as a starting point coin programs, such as:
- The America the Beautiful Quarters® Program
- The 50 State Quarters® Program
- The Westward Journey Nickel Series™
- The 2009 Lincoln Cents
- The Native American $1 Coins
- The Presidential $1 Coins
…and more! Come and browse!
Educational Games
The Games page in the Kids area has dozens of games that both entertain and educate.
Which ones will help you teach the skills and topics in your curriculum? Peruse the educators' Games Center to find out.
In the Games Center, you'll see lists of games divided into grade-appropriate groups. On the lists are each game's description, the skills it addresses, and its subject area connections.
A Course on Collecting
As you incorporate coins into your curriculum, some students may have or develop an interest in coin collecting.
You can help them get started in their new hobby with Inspector Collector's Coin Course.
This course is divided into 5 lessons with online activities that reinforce the information given in each lesson. The information includes how the students can best obtain coins, store and display them, and organize their collection.
Just for Kids
In our Kids area, called the United States Mint H.I.P. Pocket Change™ Web site, we have a whole page set up to help kids fill their National Coin Week with timely activities.
The H.I.P. Pocket Change Pals have picked an activity for each day of the week. Kids can join the fun by coming back every day to do the day's pick!
Click on each image to see the activity.
Like to color? We thought so. That's why Goldie points the way to coloring pages for you!
All 50 quarters from the 50 State Quarters® Program are there for you to download, print, and color, as well as the six quarters from the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories Quarters Program, the four pennies from the 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial One Cent Coin Program, the quarters to date from the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program, and the dollars from the Native American $1 Coin Program and the Presidential $1 Coin Program. That's a ton of coloring fun!
Of course, the other free pages are still there as well: the H.I.P. Pocket Change Pals, circulating coins, Westward Journey Series nickels, and more. With all these pages to color, you can color until you run out of crayons! But don't worry; then you can go to Cents of Color or Painters' Studio and color quarters online!
Have you heard about the Kids' Baseball Coin Design Challenge? This is a perfect addition to your National Coin Week celebration.
Design a coin that expresses what you love most about baseball and you could win prizes. You also get to warm up at Spring Training Camp with your manager, Peter!
There's a competition for adults and older kids, but if you haven't yet reached your 14th birthday, you'll want the challenge for kids…and to have a parent submit your entry. Here's hoping you have a winning season with the Kids' Baseball Coin Design Challenge!
Join Inspector Collector, our resident collecting expert, to explore numismatic nomenclature! Do you know what that blank space around the portrait is called? How about the little "D" or "P" that appears on our circulating coinage?
If you don't already know, you can find out just by doing the Piece the Parts Puzzle, Tuesday's National Coin Week activity. And if you're so moved, you can slide right into the other puzzles in Get a Clue About Collecting!
Flip is happy to introduce you to Triple Play, if you haven't already met. Triple Play is the America the Beautiful Quarters® game for the five quarters of 2012.
In this game, you get to choose a quarter design, memorize its details, then choose the right element from three options. When you get all three elements right on the first guess…triple play!
How's your aim? If you don't know, here's your chance to find out! Nero invites you to play Arrows of Knowledge with Peter as your archer.
In this game, you'll get 10 questions on coin terms and history. But answering the questions is only half the fun, because then you have to hit the correct moving target…a test of both your knowledge and your skill, and a chance to improve both!
Plinky is ready for adventure today! She invites you to join her and the Corps of Discovery on the Lewis and Clark Adventure games.
There are actually several games rolled up into one package here, with the goal of reaching the Pacific Ocean by traveling across the country. Along the way, you'll chase magpies, navigate rivers, and more, collecting coins as you go.
After the adventure, you and another player can play Hoop and Darts, a Native American dart-throwing game for two (but you can play by yourself too).
For some reason, Bill the Mint Buffalo loves coins that have pictures of bison on them. On this last day of National Coin Week, Bill would like to direct you to two nickels and three quarters that fit the bill. Check out these former Coins of the Month:
