Presidents in Your Pockets
Somewhere in your house, there’s probably a bowl full of presidents lying around. Or maybe you’re carrying them in your pockets.
Of course, they aren’t actual presidents. They’re coins with presidents’ faces on them.
Presidents Day is Monday, Feb. 21. This holiday began as a tribute to President George Washington and was scheduled near his birthday, Feb. 22. In fact, the official name of the federal holiday is still Washington’s Birthday. The Mini Page celebrates with an issue about presidents on our coins.
The first coins
In 1792, Congress passed the Coinage Act, which called for a national mint, or factory where money is made, and set money for the United States based on 100 and its fractions: a half, one-quarter, one-eighth, etc. Those first coins included a half-cent and a half-dime, which we no longer use.
Congress also said U.S. coins should have an “impression emblematic of liberty.” Lady Liberty appeared on circulating coins for more than 150 years.
Lincoln penny
In 1909, President Abraham Lincoln replaced Lady Liberty on the 1-cent coin. President Theodore Roosevelt decided that the 16th president should be honored with his face on the coin to celebrate Lincoln’s 100th birthday.
Artist Victor David Brenner, who was born in Lithuania but moved to the United States in 1890, had created a plaque of President Lincoln several years earlier, which Roosevelt saw in New York City. Brenner adapted the metalwork for the penny coin. Washington quarter
It took 23 years for another president to appear on a coin. Our first president, George Washington, was honored with his face on the 25-cent coin to celebrate his 200th birthday.
John F. Flanagan, a sculptor who was born in Newark, New Jersey, was chosen to create the image of Washington for the coin. He also designed the reverse side of the coin, which features a bald eagle with its wings spread. Jefferson nickel Although the nickel (or half-dime) was used in circulation in the early 1800s, it wasn’t until 1938 that President Thomas Jefferson’s profile, or view from the side, appeared on the coin. Felix
Schlag, a German who moved to the U.S. in 1929, won a contest for designing the new coin.
In 2005, American painter Joe Fitzgerald designed a new image of Jefferson for the obverse, or front, of the coin. Rather than a profile, Jefferson is shown facing forward.
Roosevelt dime
Shortly after President
Franklin D. Roosevelt died in 1945, a Virginia congressman proposed that the 10-cent coin’s design be changed to honor the 32nd president. Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock of the U.S. Mint was chosen to design the coin. Some historians believe that Sinnock’s design was influenced by a plaque made by Selma Burke, an African American artist, in 1944. Kennedy half-dollar
The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963 shocked the nation. Soon after he died, Congress authorized a new 50-cent coin with his likeness.
Gilroy Roberts, a chief engraver for the U.S. Mint, designed the obverse, which replaced an image of Benjamin Franklin. The coins were available to the public by March 1964. Design a coin!
Could you design a coin? You might try to design one honoring our current president, Joe
Biden, Vice President
Kamala Harris, or someone else you admire.
Share your ideas with friends or classmates.