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No matter what country your coin is from, all coins share similar
characteristics. For example, all coins have Heads & Tails or as coin
collectors like to say, Obverse & Reverse. Some coins have portraits on both
the obverse and reverse side. In that case the obverse side is the side with
the date. If there is no date, then the obverse side is the side that shows
the name of the country.
So far my interest in coins is limited to U.S. legal tender coins, that's all
I collect and know about, so for now, that's all that will be discussed
within these pages.
All United States legal tender coins including commemorative's have a face
value, a date and the words "United States" printed on them somewhere.
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United States coins have legends in English that state the face value in
either words or numbers and the word "Liberty" incorporated somewhere in the
coin's design. In 1864 the legend "In God we trust" was added to the two cent
piece and soon to other coins.
The only instance of using a foreign language on United States Coins is the use of the Latin Legend "E Pluribus Unum ," As it appears on United States Coins means "One Out of Many," probably in reference to the unity of the early States. The Peace Dollar series which begins in 1921 uses the roman "U" which looks like our "V" in the word trust, leading people to believe that the coin they have is an error example. In the 19th century United States coins were issued with what we would consider today as unusual values. Coins such as the half cent, the two cent piece, the three cent piece .. which was called a trime, the half dime and the twenty cent piece are all examples of some of the coins you might have received in change at that time. |
URL: http://www.fortunecity.com/olympia/shoemaker/113/index.htm