Odd Denomination Exhibit

The World of Odd Denominations

Today, many Americans are accustomed to four main denominations in their change: the cent, nickel, dime, and quarter. However, what many of them don’t know, is that there are a whole lot more denominations that have been used throughout history.

There are six more (legal tender) denominations (under $1) that most Americans have never even heard of before:

0.5¢ , 2¢ , 3¢ , 15¢ , 20¢ , and 50¢.

Many of these denominations don’t circulate any more. If Americans found out that 15 cent bills were once common, they would probably go: “Wait, what?”

Welcome to the vast world of odd denominations. Covered in this exhibit is many of the slightly odd, odd, and very odd denominations that have appeared in the American monetary system across it’s lifetime.

Included in this exhibit is:

1. At least one example of each odd coin denomination minted by the US government
2. One example for each denomination of bill under $1.00 printed by the US government
3. Almost all denominations of tax tokens issued by state governments
4. Other odd denomination items used throughout the United States’ monetary history

Enjoy the following items in the exhibit!

Machin’s Mill Half Cent

Starting the display is a 1778 half cent, produced at Machin’s Mill in New York. The coin is an illegal imitation of a British half penny. The mill also produced illegal imitations of Connecticut copper coins and legal Vermont copper coins.

1788 Spanish 8 Real

Although not an odd denomination, the Spanish 8 real (also known as a piece of eight) was important in American commerce as it was the basis for the United States Dollar ($1 equals 8 reals).

Spanish reals were commonly used as currency in the US up into the 1850’s. However, the Spanish real was not based on a decimal system, like the US dollar is. Due to this, a lot of strange denomination paper money was printed to be compatible with the real (see 6 ¼ cent bill). There were also many other foreign coins besides the real that circulated in the US at the time.

Large Cents

The large cent, first produced in 1793 (alongside the half cent) is not an odd denomination, but is still a strange coin to many people, considering that it is larger than the cents that we have today.

Below is a sampling of large cents, including examples of the Draped Bust, Matron Head, and Braided Hair varieties.

In 1857, production ended due to the same reason half cent production ended. See the half cent section to learn more.

Half dimes

The half dime was first issued for circulation in the US in 1794 (with patterns being struck in 1792). The half dime is another coin that is not technically an odd denomination, but that we felt we should still be included. They were basically the equivalent of our modern day nickel, except they were smaller and made of silver. The nickel was introduced in 1866, which meant the half dime was coming to an end. The last half dimes were minted in 1873.

Included in the examples below are both a Capped Bust and a Seated Liberty half dime.

Half Cents

Although not too strange, the half cent qualifies to be an odd denomination, as many americans today would be surprised to hear that it once circulated. It also happens to be the smallest denomination coin to be issued by the US government.

Tying into our Beginning of Coinage category, the half cent was also one of the first coins minted in the US, with production starting in 1793. The only other coin being produced at the time was the large cent, until other gold and silver coins came along.

Shown below is an example for each design of half cent minted.

In 1857, the cost of minting half cents (and also large cents) had risen due to inflation. Mint Director James Snowden reported that the cost of making and distributing them had gone up, and that the mint was barely able to pay the cost it took to do this. Combine this with the fact that they had become unpopular and barely circulated, and they were discontinued.

Three Cent Coins

Considering that back in the 1800’s the US postage system was the main form of communication, it is no surprise that a new coinage denomination was introduced due to a change in postal rates.

Production of silver three cent pieces (also known as trimes) first began in 1851. Production began due to both a cut in postal rates from 5 cents to 3 cents and the need for another small denomination coin.

During the civil war, almost all small denomination coins were hoarded, especially silver ones, like the three cent piece.

Because of this, in 1865, the treasury decided to start making the three cent coin out of nickel. This composition was not intended to be permanent, but only to be used until the shortage was alleviated. The design was also changed.

At first, these coins were produced alongside the silver coins, until 1873 when production of silver trimes stopped. By 1889, production of three cent nickel coins stopped too, possibly due to the postage rate being dropped to two cents in 1883.

The 6 ¼ Cent Bill

In the early 1800s, the United States was not able to produce enough coinage to keep up with demand. This led to numerous foreign coins in circulation (many of them being legal tender). Some of the most common foreign coins were Spanish reals, which the US Dollar was based on. Spanish reals were minted in many denominations, the smallest being ½ real and the largest being the 8 real.

People used the real interchangeably with the dollar, however, one real was equal to 12 ½ cents. To make it easier to make change, private banks and cities printed paper currency to be compatible with the reals. One of the strangest denominations was the 6 ¼ cent bill, used to make change for the ½ real coins.

In 1857, the practice of printing these bills mostly stopped, as all foreign coins were declared no longer legal tender, and fell out of use.

The 6 ¼ cent bill shown was printed by the Philadelphia Loan Company in 1838.

Also shown is a Spanish ½ real from the 1800’s.

Fractional Bills

While many people may be surprised to find a $2.00 bill in change, most do not know we once had official US paper money that was even stranger! Due to economic reasons caused by the civil war, in December of 1861, banks in the US suspended all payments in gold and silver coins. This led to massive hoarding of these coins. Combine this with the fact that copper was needed for the war effort, and there was little change left in circulation.

On July 17, 1862, to try to combat the shortage, Abraham Lincoln signed the Postage Currency act, creating Postage Currency, which consisted of postage printed onto treasury paper. These are issue 1 bills.

4 more issues of bills were printed under the act of July 17, 1862, until 1867. These bills looked more like traditional paper money and were called Fractional Currency.

Across the five issues, six different denominations were printed. These denominations are all of face value under $1.00, as the bills were meant to be a temporary replacement for silver coins.

All six denominations across three (out of five) different issues of bills are included below.

Two Cent Coin

The two cent coin is an interesting and inexpensive odd denomination American coin.

The first proposals to strike a two cent coin were in 1806, then again in 1836 (with patterns being struck).

In 1864, the coin finally made it to circulation, the brainchild of James Pollock. 1864 being the middle of the civil war, the United States was undergoing a major coin shortage. The two cent coin was most likely minted to get as much coinage into circulation in as little time as possible, considering the fact that it was just as easy to strike a two cent coin as it was a one cent coin.

The two cent coin was very popular at first, however, demand decreased after the introduction of the five cent nickel in 18

66. The last year the coin was produced for circulation was 1872, with another couple hundred being produced in 1873 in proof only format for collectors.

The 20 Cent Coin

The 20 cent coin is commonplace in most countries with a decimal system, however, it is perhaps one of the most disliked coins ever in American Commerce. The coin was quite confusing to use and never satisfied its original purpose, which was to alleviate a shortage of coins in the Far West. Coincidentally, it also had the shortest run of any circulating coin denomination.

Twenty cent coins were made for circulation in only two years: 1875 and 1876, and were struck at the San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Carson City mints. Overall, only 1.35 million 20 cent coins were struck for circulation.

Why exactly were they so disliked? The first reason, as mentioned above, was that they were confusing to use. This is due to the fact that they were similar in size to the quarter. Adding to the confusion, the two obverses looked almost identical. Combine this with the fact that part of the population can’t read the difference between twenty and twenty-five cents, and you see the problem.

In 1877 and 1878, twenty-cent coins were minted in proof only format, and were not used in commerce.

Tax Tokens

Today, all but 5 states in the United States charge sales tax, and there are many interesting strange denomination tokens that helped this tax become a reality.

In 1929, the United States fell into the Great Depression. Many states were desperately trying to make up for lost income tax, and their solution was to implement sales tax. 12 states did this.

However, the tax was miniscule. This led to many transactions going down to the mill (a mill is 1/10 of a cent). For example, a 10¢ item would end up costing 10.1¢. There was no way to pay exactly, as the smallest circulating denomination was the cent.

This means that the merchant would be forced to round down and lose 0.1¢ or be forced to round up and the consumer would lose 0.9¢.

The solution was to make tax tokens. Tax tokens were issued by states, municipalities, and also the private sector. They came in denominations of smaller than one cent, meaning they could be used to pay sales tax. There were almost 500 different variations, from 12 different states.

During WWII, most tax tokens fell out of use. They certainly helped progress sales tax into what it (unfortunately) is today.

Shultz Cigar Stores Coupon

Even private companies couldn’t help but produce strange denominations! This Shultz Cigar Stores certificate was produced in the 1930’s and is worth 1 and ½ coupons. You won’t see a coupon like that around today!

7.5¢ coin

One of the oddest coins ever proposed was probably the 7 ½ cent coin. The idea came from Coca-Cola. In the 1950s, the price of a bottle of Coke was the same as it had been for more than sixty years: 5 cents. Many Coca-Cola vending machines accepted only one coin: the nickel. This caused a conundrum: a price increase was desirable, but the company wanted to retain its single-coin vending machines. So, in 1953, the president of Coca-Cola, Robert Woodruff, suggested to President Eisenhower that the Treasury should mint a 7½ cent coin. The proposal never advanced – but the cost of a Coke did.

$2 Bill and 50 Cent Coin

Today, 50 cent coins and $2 bills can be found in circulation with a little bit of luck. Most numismatists would never consider them to be odd, however, most of the general public disagrees. When they come across one of these pieces of money, they are commonly believed to be very rare and strange, and are tucked away for safekeeping.

Are these odd denominations or not? It’s up to you to decide. Visit histocoins.com to vote on whether they are or not!

Wine Revenue Stamps

Federal wine stamps were first issued in 1914 and made until 1951. They were used by manufacturers to pay tax on the wine they made. There were also many other revenue stamps made for other taxes, some of them with denominations as high as $500!

Many of the wine revenue stamps come in quite strange denominations. The ones below are from 1941. Check them out!