It’s the U.S. Mint’s birthday--in honor of this Philadelphia-based institution, see how much you know about U.S. coins.
Congress established the U.S. Mint on April 2, 1792. It was the first prominent building established under an act from the new Congress. The Coinage Act of 1792 called for 10 coins to be minted, with the silver dollar as the base unit; gold and copper coins were also in the mix.
The original coins didn’t have images of people. Instead, most had the words “Liberty” and the figure of an eagle on the coin.
The act required that the mint be near the nation’s capital, which was Philadelphia at the time.
A controversial part of the act was Section 19, which called for the death penalty for anyone found debasing, diluting, or embezzling coins from the Mint.
President George Washington appointed David Rittenhouse as the first director of the Mint. Washington also lived near the Mint and is believed to have donated some of his own silver for the first coins.
The Mint has an interactive timeline of key events in its history, from the Colonial days until now.
