Coins Guide

Coin collecting and all these state quarters?

Is there a list somewhere out there that will show me what coins the Mint has done. . .in the state Quarters ? I have been to the US mint and cannot find a list. . . I also see that there is one issued for / to Somoa? Now it has been a LONG TIME since school . . but what is up with that? Is it part of the USA now? Guess I better go back to school. . .Also. . I see the Mint is doing something with Nickels too. . .I need a lesson I guess. . .

The mints did a quarter for each of the 50 states, there is a D mint mark for the Denver mint, a P mint mark for the Philadelphia mint and the proof version has an S for the San Francisco mint. The mint then had a separate program for the District of Columbia (Washington DC) and the 5 US territories (act of congress 2008). Even though the people are not allowed to vote in US elections they are still citizens of the United States.They are the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, America samoa, The US Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Now starting this year there is a new quarter program called the National Parks, there will be one quarter for each state with a national park or national monument on it.

What ever happened to the half dollars?

Are they still making them. They use to be collectors items so much that they wouldn’t get into circulation for long.

Go to your local bank and you can buy them by the rolls if you want. They are not scarce. My bank has Half Dollars, Silver Dollars, gold dollars, and 2.00 bills.

What was the last year that pennies were made entirely of copper?

I know pennies are now made of a mix of different medals, because copper is too expensive, but when did they stop using 100% copper?

1982 was the last year for copper pennies. And the first year for the zinc pennies. They made both types that year, and the only way to tell them apart is by weight — the zinc pennies are lighter.

Answer
100% copper Pennies were last minted by the US in 1857. These were large cents, about the size of the "golden" dollar coins. The Flying Eagle and Indian Cents from 1856 to 1864 were 88% copper and 12% nickel. Beginning in 1864 Indian Cents, and later Lincoln Cents, were minted in 95% copper and 5% tin, technically this is bronze.