So I started thinking the other day about how incongruous our currency is. Usual change for $1, is broken up into a penny, nickel, dime, quarter. Our bills are $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100. There is no quarter of 100, a $25, but we have quarters in change. We have no 20¢ cent piece. We had one but it was discontinued in 1878, after a short 3 year stint. Where is the consistency? I couldn’t find any. But, I found out so many interesting things with just a little research.
This is some information from Wikipedia about our coinage minting.
· Half-cent 1792 - 1857
· Penny 1793–present
· 2-cent 1864–1873
· 3-cent 1851-1873
· Half Dime 1792-1873 (Not to be confused with the Nickel below also worth 5 cents)
· Nickel 1866–present
· Dime 1792–present
· 20-cent 1875-1878
· Quarter 1796–present
· Half dollar 1794–present
· Dollar coin 1794–present
· Quarter Eagle ($2.5 gold coin) 1792-1929
· Three-dollar piece 1854-1889
· Half Eagle ($5 gold coin) 1795-1929
· Eagle ($10 gold coin) 1795-1929
· Double Eagle ($20 gold coin) 1850-1933
We used to print higher number bills, but currently we only print $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100. I suppose that any higher amount is handled electronically now.
Bills wear out at different rates, apparently the $5 is our most commonly used bill.
Denomination | $1 | $2 | $5 | $10 | $20 | $50 | $100 |
Months in circulation | 21 | 136 | 16 | 18 | 24 | 55 | 89 |
