Are you curious about old U.S. coins? Check out this blog and video on old gold and silver coins.
Gold & Silver U.S. Coins
In 1784, Thomas Jefferson wrote The Coinage Act which was added to the constitution in 1792. Jefferson defined how many “grains” of gold would be in a $10 gold piece and how many grains of silver would be in a silver dollar. The founders made it clear that only gold and silver were to be money and anything else would be counterfeit. Gold and silver are known as “constitutional money”, “hard money”, or “real money”.
Prior to 1965, dimes, quarters, half dollars, and silver dollars were 90% silver and 10% copper. From 1965-70, half dollars were actually 40% silver, so they are still far more valuable than the fully clad versions from 1971 to today. However, dimes and quarters after 1964 had no silver in them.
We had gold coins from the signing of the Constitution up until 1933 when FDR outlawed them. The $20 gold piece has just under one ounce of gold in it. The $10 coin has half an ounce, the $5 a quarter ounce, and the $2.50 coin has .125 of an ounce and is the size of a dime. There was even a $1 gold coin that was quite small. U.S. gold coins were 90% gold and 10% copper.
I buy unwanted gold and silver in Lake Forest, Highland Park, Glencoe, and all over the Chicago area.