Coin Fun Facts
How much was in that first batch? The Mint produced its first circulating coins—all $111.78 worth of them—in March 1793. That first batch consisted of 11,178 copper cents. Soon after, the Mint began issuing gold and silver coins as well.

Ben Franklin helped to stop counterfeiters… In the 1700s, it was pretty easy to print money that looked real. But it was Franklin who finally hit on a good idea in 1739: He cast real leaves in lead and called it the “nature print.” He kept the process so secret that no one figured out how he did it until the 1960s.