If you’re worth 25 cents, why not say so?… The quarter dollar made in 1804 was the first silver coin in the United States Mint’s history to have a value on it! Yes, up until then, all silver and gold American coins were non-denominated. People had to know by their size how much they were worth. Only copper coins were required to show their denominations.

The President got the first Jefferson nickel. The coin, issued on November 6, 1938, was presented to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

After 100 years, the Louisiana Purchase was set in gold. To remember the Louisiana Purchase on its 100th anniversary, the Mint made not one but two gold dollar coins—the first commemorative gold dollars. The dollars were sold at the
1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, held in honor of the Purchase. One of the coins had a picture of President Jefferson on the front, who was in office during the Purchase. The other showed President McKinley, who signed the law that financed the fair just before he was assassinated in 1901.