- David Rittenhouse was appointed by George Washington as the first Director of the Mint.
- The first Mint building was the first Federal building erected by the U.S. Government under the Constitution.
- Past Mints have included Dahlonega, GA; Charlotte, NC; New Orleans, LA; and Carson City, NV.
- The first Philadelphia Mint used harnessed horses to drive the machinery that produced coinage.
- A two-cent coin was minted between 1864 and 1873 and was the first coin to bear the motto "In God We Trust".
- Legend holds that George Washington donated some of his personal silver to the Mint for manufacturing early coinage.
- The Mint's first delivery of coins occurred in 1793 and consisted of 11,178 copper cents.
- Mint marks, "S", "D", "P", or "W" designate the Mint facility,which produced the coin.
- Thomas Jefferson first proposed the decimal currency system,which we use today.
- By provision of the Coinage Act of 1965, Mint marks were not carried on coins made in 1965, 1966, or 1967.
- The first U.S. commemorative coin was produced in 1892 and featured Christopher Columbus.
- The Mint's original coins were made of gold, silver, and copper.
- In 1943, the content of the cent coins was changed to zinc-coated steel due to copper shortage during World War II.
- According to the artist, the Indian head on the buffalo nickel (1913-1938) is a composite picture.
- The Philadelphia Mint mark appears on each of its coins except the Lincoln cent.
- Sacagewea and Susan B. Anthony are the only women honored on a circulating coin.
Both were honored on a dollar coin.
- The Philadelphia Mint covers five acres of land.
- The first coin to feature an African-American was the Booker T. Washington Memorial Half Dollar.
- Calvin Coolidge was the first President to have his portrait appear on a coin struck during his lifetime.
- George Washington first appeared on a commemorative dollar, with the Marquis de Lafayette, in 1899.
- In 1893, Queen Isabella of Spain became the first woman to be featured on a U.S. commemorative coin.
- All commemorative coins legislated by the U.S. Mint are legal tender.
- Original gold coinage included $10, $5, and $2.50 denominations.
- The Act of April 2, 1792, which created the Mint, required coins to have "...an impression emblematic of liberty."
- The Roosevelt dime torch, olive branch, and oak branch portray liberty, peace, and strength and independence.
- The donation of $508,316 in gold to create the Smithsonian Institution was assayed in the [Philadelphia] U.S. Mint.
- The first Lincoln cent was produced in 1909 and carried wheat ears patterns on the reverse side.
- From 1799 to 1873, the Mint was an independent agency reporting directly to the President.
- The Lincoln cent is the only circulating coin currently produced in which the portrait faces to the right.
- The United States has two mottos that appear on each circulating coin, "In God We Trust" and "E Pluribus Unum."
- Designers' initials can be found on each circulating coin.
- The design on the back of the Kennedy Half Dollar is the presidential coat of arms.
- The San Francisco Mint, established in 1854, survived the great earthquake of April 18, 1906.
- Before creation of a national Mint, "currency" included foreign and colonial currency, livestock, produce, and wampum.
- The Denver Mint opened in 1863 as a U.S. Assay Office.
- The present Philadelphia Mint opened in 1969 and is the fourth facility which has been located in that city.
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