Money Trivia

DCU's vision is that all members achieve financial well-being. We believe that unbiased, detailed consumer education is essential for you to achieve your financial goals. Why are we different? Read it here.

• Goofy coins – At various times in our history, the U.S. minted half cents (1793-1857), two-cent pieces (1864-1873), three-cent pieces (1851-1889), twenty-cent pieces (1875-1878), $2.50 gold pieces (1796-1929), $3.00 gold piece (1854-1889), $4.00 gold pieces (1879-1880), $5.00 gold pieces or half eagles (1795-1929), $10.00 gold pieces or eagles (1795-1933), and $20.00 gold pieces or double eagles (1849-1933). The two-cent piece, first minted during the American Civil War, was the first coin with the slogan, "In God We Trust." Currently, we have the penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar, and dollar.
  
• Don't wait too long to cash grandma's birthday check – A check is good for six months from the time it is written.
  
• Even the U.S. Mint can learn a lesson – The Liberty Head Nickel, when first minted in 1883, did not have the word cents on it. Unscrupulous individuals gold plated the coins and passed them off as $5 gold pieces. The U.S. Mint added the word cents later in the year.
  
• Bet you can't get change for this at McDonald's – The largest bill ever printed in U.S. currency was the $100,000 bill. It only circulated between branches of the Federal Reserve and is no longer used. President Woodrow Wilson is pictured on the face. You can see one at the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, DC.
  
• Got a magnifying glass? – All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of a $5 bill.
  
• The gold standard – U.S. paper money used to be backed by gold or, in the case of Silver Certificates, silver.
  
• More than you want to know about pennies – The first Lincoln penny was minted in 1909, replacing the indian head penny. It was the first coin with a portrait. President Lincoln was chosen to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Lincoln's birth. The original back of the coin bore the words one cent and two wheat stalks. In 1959, the back was changed to a likeness of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. If you look closely with a magnifying glass, you can see the statue of Lincoln between the columns. In 1943, during World War II, the Lincoln penny was minted in steel with a zinc coating to preserve copper for the war effort.
  
• Get out the magnifying glass again – On an American $1 bill, look at the shield in the upper right corner of the face around the 1. There is an owl sitting on the upper left-hand corner of the shield. There is a spider hidden in the front upper right-hand corner.
  
• Who ever figured this out must of had time on his hands – If you have 3 quarters, 4 dimes, 4 pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.
  
• Tommy Boy coins – The Jefferson nickel replaced the Buffalo nickel in 1938. The design was the result of a competition and was chosen from 390 entries. It was the only coin design selected that way up to that time. The back side is a likeness of Monticello, Jefferson's home in Charlottesville, Virginia – a building he designed himself.