Hobbies And Interests
Portrait
Every currently circulated United States coin features a former U.S. president's portrait. Abraham Lincoln appears on the penny, George Washington is on the quarter, Thomas Jefferson is on the nickel, John F. Kennedy is on the half-dollar, and Franklin Roosevelt is on the dime. These portraits are included to make the coins look different and to commemorate the contributions made by some of the most important political figures in U.S. history.
Year of Print
In order to help identify various incarnations of coins and to track circulation of previously minted pieces, almost every coin in circulation boasts the year of minting somewhere on its surface. Though most coins feature the year of printing, many coins printed in 1965 and 1966 were printed with the date of "1964" to prevent speculative trading resulting from a coin shortage in 1964. Another exception to traditional printing occurred in the '70s, when certain coins were printed "1776-1976" to commemorate the United States bicentennial.
Mintmark
One of the most important aspects of a United States coin is also one of the most commonly overlooked. All coins are printed with a small mintmark, normally found on the back of the coin. The mark is "PSD," representing the Philadelphia, San Francisco and Denver mints. You can spot the mintmark on most coins simply by closely examining their surface, though older coins may have had their marks worn down due to extended use.
National Motto
Since 1873, every coin printed in the United States has legally been required to carry the Latin phrase "E Pluribus Unum." The phrase translates to "Out of Many, One," which was the national motto of the United States until "In God We Trust" was adopted in 1956. Some coins feature both the original and newly adopted mottos of the United States, depending on the year in which they were printed.