Tuesday 08 December 2009
Dec 08

I just finished watching the fifth episodeof Spare Change. Another informative and entertaining watch! Episode 5 is about the U.S. gold coins the half eagle ($5) and the quarter eagle ($2.50).

A few interesting facts:

Half eagles and quarter eagles are 90% gold and 10% copper. The coins weigh 8.35 and 4.18 grams respectively. The coins also have a reeded edge which you probably know was added to many coins to prevent shaving or clipping coins as well as an anti-counterfeiting measure. If you were not already aware shaving and clipping coins is when a person takes off part of the coin by either shaving or clipping the edge. They then spend the coin. The shavings and clippings collected from many coins could then be melted and used. Suddenly a coin with $50 in gold weight would only have $49.50 worth of gold or in some cases even less. Both coins were made using an incusive design. An incusive design is when the design is carved into the coin instead of bulging out from the coin. These coins are the only U.S. coins minted that have a completely incusive design.
Key Dates
Quarter EaglesHalf Eagles
1911 D1909O only year for O mint
1914 P1911D
1914 D1908 S
1929 P (most were melted)

written by Nicholas

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Current Coins in Circulation Among the Republic of India
Monday 15 April 2013 - 14:56:14

Here's a fairly large article covering India's modern coins. Starting with the fading 50 paise coins to the 10 rupee.