Fun Facts

When it’s time for change?... The Secretary of the Treasury may change circulating coinage designs after 25 years. Congress, however, can authorize a change prior to 25 years.
There were copper pennies and white cents?... Yes, there were "white cents" that didn't look at all like pennies. These were the Flying Eagle one cent coins of 1856–58 and the Indian Head one cent coins of 1859-64. They were made from metal that contained 88 parts copper to 12 parts nickel, which gave them a light or white color.
One Commemorative Coin bears 5 dates... but not the date it was struck! The 1937 half-dollar struck to honor Norfolk, Virginia's founding, becoming a town, then a borough, has 1636, 1682, 1736, 1845, and 1936, but not 1937, the date the coin was made.
The bison on the Buffalo Nickel once roamed New York City... Named Black Diamond, this bison roamed "The Big Apple" around the turn of the century. And as far as we know, Black Diamond never roamed outside of the Bronx Zoo—his New York City home.
At one time, people used ant noses to buy food and clothes in China... It's true—in 600 B.C. China, people used ant noses to buy food and clothes. "Ant Nose" is one name for the copper money they used. (In case you're wondering, these coins are bigger than the name suggests!)
Honest, you’d be lucky to have a silly head! Here’s why... "Silly Head" is the popular name for a U.S. cent minted in 1839. The coin got this nickname because most people thought the picture of Miss Liberty on the obverse (front) looked silly.
Long before the 1999 quarter, there was another New Jersey coin... What was it? The "New Jersey Cent." This copper coin was minted from 1786 to 1788—more than 200 years before the New Jersey quarter became the third coin in the 50 State Quarters Program.
You can hold a Ferris wheel in the palm of your hand... How? It's easier than you might think. So is turning cartwheels with your fingers. Both "Ferris wheel" and "cartwheel" are nicknames for silver dollars!
In 1694, copper elephants lured people to America... How? That year, England minted "Elephant Tokens" - two half pennies meant to increase interest in the colonies. On the reverse one penny said, "God Preserve New England"; the other, "God Preserve Carolina and the Lord Proprieters."
Nickels, dimes, and quarters are pickled before they’re minted... It might sound strange, but the blanks used to make these coins really are pickled. They're not soaked in vinegar, though, like the pickled cucumbers you get on hamburgers. Instead, these copper-nickel blanks are soaked in a special chemical solution. This "pickling" washes and polishes the blanks.