1.
United States dollar
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The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its insular territories per the United States Constitution. It is divided into 100 smaller cent units, the circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars. The U. S. dollar was originally commodity money of silver as enacted by the Coinage Act of 1792 which determined the dollar to be 371 4/16 grain pure or 416 grain standard silver, the currency most used in international transactions, it is the worlds primary reserve currency. Several countries use it as their currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency. Besides the United States, it is used as the sole currency in two British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands. A few countries use the Federal Reserve Notes for paper money, while the country mints its own coins, or also accepts U. S. coins that can be used as payment in U. S. dollars. After Nixon shock of 1971, USD became fiat currency, Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution provides that the Congress has the power To coin money, laws implementing this power are currently codified at 31 U. S. C. Section 5112 prescribes the forms in which the United States dollars should be issued and these coins are both designated in Section 5112 as legal tender in payment of debts. The Sacagawea dollar is one example of the copper alloy dollar, the pure silver dollar is known as the American Silver Eagle. Section 5112 also provides for the minting and issuance of other coins and these other coins are more fully described in Coins of the United States dollar. The Constitution provides that a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and that provision of the Constitution is made specific by Section 331 of Title 31 of the United States Code. The sums of money reported in the Statements are currently being expressed in U. S. dollars, the U. S. dollar may therefore be described as the unit of account of the United States. The word dollar is one of the words in the first paragraph of Section 9 of Article I of the Constitution, there, dollars is a reference to the Spanish milled dollar, a coin that had a monetary value of 8 Spanish units of currency, or reales. In 1792 the U. S. Congress passed a Coinage Act, Section 20 of the act provided, That the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars, or units. And that all accounts in the offices and all proceedings in the courts of the United States shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation. In other words, this act designated the United States dollar as the unit of currency of the United States, unlike the Spanish milled dollar the U. S. dollar is based upon a decimal system of values. Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the form is significantly more common
2.
Troy weight
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Troy weight is a system of units of mass customarily used for precious metals and gemstones. One troy ounce equals 31.1034768 grams exactly, there are only 12 troy ounces per troy pound, rather than the 16 ounces per pound found in the more common avoirdupois system. However, the pound has 7000 grains whereas the troy pound has only 5760 grains. Both systems use the same grain defined by the international yard, therefore the troy ounce is 480 grains, compared with the avoirdupois ounce, which is 437.5 grains. So the troy ounce is about 10% heavier than the avoirdupois ounce, although troy ounces are still used to weigh gold, silver, and gemstones, troy weight is no longer used in most other applications. One troy ounce of gold is denoted with the ISO4217 currency code XAU, troy weight probably takes its name from the French market town of Troyes in France where English merchants traded at least as early as the early 9th century. The name troy is first attested in 1390, describing the weight of a platter, the word troni refers to markets. Watson finds the dialect word troi, meaning a balance in Wrights Dialect Dictionary, troy weight referred to the tower system, the earliest reference to the modern troy weights is in 1414. Many aspects of the weight system were indirectly derived from the Roman monetary system. The Romans used bronze bars of varying weights as currency, an aes grave weighed 1 pound. One twelfth of an aes grave was called an uncia, or in English an ounce, before the adoption of the metric system, many systems of troy weights were in use in various parts of Europe, among them Holland troy, Paris troy, etc. Their values varied from one another by up to several percentage points, troy weights were first used in England in the 15th century, and were made official for gold and silver in 1527. The British Imperial system of weights and measures was established in 1824, the troy ounce in use today is essentially the same as the British Imperial troy ounce, adopted as an official weight standard for United States coinage by Act of Congress on May 19,1828. The British Imperial troy ounce was based on, and virtually identical with, the pre-1824 British troy ounce, the English troy ounce was officially adopted for coinage in 1527. Troy ounces have been used in England since about 1400, before that, various sorts of troy ounces were in use on the continent. The troy ounce and grain were also part of the apothecaries system and this was long used in medicine, but has now been largely replaced by the metric system. The only troy weight in widespread use today is the British Imperial troy ounce, both are currently based on a grain of 0.06479891 gram, with 480 grains to a troy ounce. The British Empire abolished the 12-ounce troy pound in the 19th century, the origin of the troy weight system is unknown
3.
Palladium
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Palladium is a chemical element with symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston and he named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, acquired by her when she slew Pallas. Palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium form a group of elements referred to as the platinum group metals and these have similar chemical properties, but palladium has the lowest melting point and is the least dense of them. More than half the supply of palladium and its congener platinum is used in catalytic converters, Palladium is also used in electronics, dentistry, medicine, hydrogen purification, chemical applications, groundwater treatment, and jewelry. Palladium is a key component of cells, which react hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity, heat. Ore deposits of palladium and other PGMs are rare, recycling is also a source, mostly from scrapped catalytic converters. The numerous applications and limited supply sources result in considerable investment interest, Palladium belongs to group 10 in the periodic table, but the configuration in the outermost electron shells is atypical for group 10. Fewer electron shells are filled than the directly preceding it. The valence shell has eighteen electrons – ten more than the eight found in the shells of the noble gases from neon onward. Palladium is a soft metal that resembles platinum. It is the least dense and has the lowest melting point of the platinum group metals and it is soft and ductile when annealed and is greatly increased in strength and hardness when cold-worked. Palladium dissolves slowly in concentrated acid, in hot, concentrated sulfuric acid. It dissolves readily at room temperature in aqua regia, common oxidation states of palladium are 0, +1, +2 and +4. Palladium was first observed in 2002, Palladium films with defects produced by alpha particle bombardment at low temperature exhibit superconductivity having Tc=3.2 K. Naturally occurring palladium is composed of seven isotopes, six of which are stable, the most stable radioisotopes are 107Pd with a half-life of 6.5 million years, 103Pd with 17 days, and 100Pd with 3.63 days. Eighteen other radioisotopes have been characterized with atomic weights ranging from 90.94948 u to 122.93426 u and these have half-lives of less than thirty minutes, except 101Pd, 109Pd, and 112Pd. For isotopes with atomic mass unit values less than that of the most abundant stable isotope, 106Pd, the primary mode of decay for those isotopes of Pd with atomic mass greater than 106 is beta decay with the primary product of this decay being silver. Radiogenic 107Ag is a product of 107Pd and was first discovered in 1978 in the Santa Clara meteorite of 1976
4.
Adolph Alexander Weinman
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Adolph Alexander Weinman was a German-born American sculptor and architectural sculptor. Born in Durmersheim, near Karlsruhe, Germany, Weinman arrived in the United States at the age of 14. At the age of 15, he attended evening classes at Cooper Union and later studied at the Art Students League of New York with sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens and he later served as an assistant to Charles Niehaus, Olin Warner, and Daniel Chester French. Weinman opened his own studio in 1904, although Weinman is now best remembered as a medalist, when he once was introduced as such he vehemently denied being one and said that he was an architectural sculptor. Commission of Fine Arts from 1929 to 1933 and he died in Port Chester, New York, on August 8,1952. Following a mass at Manhattans St. Patricks Cathedral, he was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Queens, Weinmans papers are at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art. His son Robert Weinman was also a sculptor, despite his objections, Weinman is still best remembered as the designer of the Walking Liberty Half Dollar and the Mercury dime along with various medals for the Armed Services of the United States. Among these are the identical reverses of the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Weinman was one of many sculptors and artists who employed Audrey Munson as a model. As an architectural sculptor, Weinmans work can be found on the Wisconsin, Missouri, supreme Court, all in Washington, D. C. Weinmans non-architectural works include the Macomb and the Maybury monuments in Detroit, another example of his non-architectural work is his Abraham Lincoln Statue located in the center of Hodgenville, Kentucky. Weinman was one of 250 sculptors who exhibited in the 3rd Sculpture International held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the summer of 1949, Weinmans works are mostly executed in a lyrical neoclassical style. His figures typically wear classical drapery, but there is a fluidity found in his work that is a harbinger of the Art Deco style that was to follow him and his bronze statuette The Nude Golfer epitomizes this style. This work evokes classical sculpture in its attention to anatomy and movement and the status of the athlete while the subject. Weinman also taught, among his pupils was Eleanor Mary Mellon, Union Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Wyman Park, Baltimore, Maryland. A replica of this is at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Alexander Johnston Cassatt, Pennsylvania Station, New York City. Abraham Lincoln, Kentucky State Capitol, Frankfort, Kentucky, william Cotter Maybury Memorial, Grand Circus Park, Detroit, Michigan. Descending Night, Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, California, samuel Rea, Pennsylvania Station, New York City. Fountain of the Centaurs, Missouri State Capitol, Jefferson City, pair of Lions, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland
5.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
6.
111th United States Congress
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The One Hundred Eleventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3,2009, until January 3,2011. It began during the last two weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with the remainder spanning the first two years of Barack Obamas presidency and it was composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The apportionment of seats in the House was based on the 2000 U. S. Census, a new delegate seat was created for the Northern Mariana Islands. This Congress has been considered one of the most productive Congresses in history in terms of legislation passed since the 89th Congress, roland Burris was appointed to the seat on December 31,2008 but his credentials were not accepted until January 12,2009. An election dispute over the Minnesota seat previously held by Norm Coleman, frankens admission gave the Senate Democratic caucus sixty votes, enough to defeat a filibuster in a party-line vote. January 8,2009, Joint session counted the Electoral College votes of the 2008 presidential election, January 20,2009, Inauguration of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. February 24,2009, Presidents speech to Joint Session April 28,2009, September 9,2009, President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress to promote health care reform, which Representative Joe Wilson interrupted by shouting at the President. January 25,2010,2010 State of the Union Address February 4,2010, April 20,2010, Deepwater Horizon oil spill November 2,2010,2010 general elections, in which Republicans regained control of the House while the Democrats remained in control of the Senate. January 29,2009, Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, 111–2 February 4,2009, Childrens Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, Pub. L. 111–3 February 17,2009, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, 111–5 March 11,2009, Omnibus Appropriations Act,2009, Pub. L. 111–8 March 30,2009, Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, 111–11 April 21,2009, Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, Pub. L. 111–13 May 20,2009, Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009, 111–21 May 20,2009, Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009, Pub. L. 111–22 May 22,2009, Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009, 111–23 May 22,2009, Credit CARD Act of 2009, Pub. L. 111–24 June 22,2009, Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, 111–31 June 24,2009, Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009 including the Car Allowance Rebate System, Pub. L. 111–32 October 28,2009, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, including the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, 111–84 November 6,2009, Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, Pub. L. 111–92 December 16,2009, Consolidated Appropriations Act,2010, 111–117 February 12,2010, Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act, as Title I of Pub. L. 111–139 March 4,2010, Travel Promotion Act of 2009, 111–145 March 18,2010, Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, Pub. L. 111–147 March 23,2010, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 111–148 March 30,2010, Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, including the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, Pub. L
7.
United States Mint
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The United States Mint produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. It does not produce paper money, the Mint was created in Philadelphia in 1792, and soon joined by other centres, whose coins were identified by their own mint marks. There are currently four active coin-producing mints, Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, the Mint was created by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1792, and originally placed within the Department of State. Per the terms of the Coinage Act, the first Mint building was in Philadelphia, then the capital of the United States, today, the Mints headquarters are in Washington D. C. It operates mint facilities in Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, and West Point, New York and a bullion depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Official Mints were once located in Carson City, Nevada, Charlotte, North Carolina, Dahlonega, Georgia, New Orleans, Louisiana, Washington, D. C. and even in Manila. Originally part of the State Department, the Mint was made an independent agency in 1799 and it converted precious metals into standard coin for anyones account with no seigniorage charge beyond the refining costs. Under the Coinage Act of 1873, the Mint became part of the Department of the Treasury and it was placed under the auspices of the Treasurer of the United States in 1981. Legal tender coins of today are minted solely for the Treasurys account, the first Director of the United States Mint was renowned scientist David Rittenhouse from 1792 to 1795. The position was held most recently by Edmund C, moy until his resignation effective January 9,2011. Henry Voigt was the first Superintendent and Chief Coiner, and is credited with some of the first U. S. coin designs. Another important position at the Mint is that of Chief Engraver, the Mint has operated several branch facilities throughout the United States since the Philadelphia Mint opened in 1792, in a building known as Ye Olde Mint. With the opening of branch mints came the need for mint marks, the first of these branch mints were the Charlotte, North Carolina, Dahlonega, Georgia, and New Orleans, Louisiana branches. Both the Charlotte and Dahlonega Mints were opened to facilitate the conversion of gold deposits into coinage. The Civil War closed both these facilities permanently, the New Orleans Mint closed at the beginning of the Civil War and did not re-open until the end of Reconstruction in 1879. During its two stints as a facility, it produced both gold and silver coinage in eleven different denominations, though only ten denominations were ever minted there at one time. A new branch facility was opened in Carson City, Nevada, in 1870, it operated until 1893, like the Charlotte and Dahlonega branches, the Carson City Mint was opened to take advantage of local precious metal deposits, in this case, a large vein of silver. Though gold coins were produced there, no base metal coins were
8.
Coins of the United States dollar
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Coins of the United States dollar were first minted in 1792. New coins have been produced annually since then and they make up an aspect of the United States currency system. Today, circulating coins exist in denominations of 1¢, 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢, also minted are bullion and commemorative coins. All of these are produced by the United States Mint, the coins are then sold to Federal Reserve Banks which in turn are responsible for putting coins into circulation and withdrawing them as demanded by the countrys economy. Today four mints operate in the United States producing billions of coins each year, the main mint is the Philadelphia Mint, which produces circulating coinage, mint sets and some commemorative coins. The Denver Mint also produces circulating coinage, mint sets and commemoratives, the San Francisco Mint produces regular and silver proof coinage, and produced circulating coinage until the 1970s. The West Point Mint produces bullion coinage, Philadelphia and Denver produce the dies used at all of the mints. The proof and mint sets are manufactured each year and contain examples of all of the circulating coins. The producing mint of each coin may be identified, as most coins bear a mint mark. The identifying letter of the mint can be found on the front side of most coins, unmarked coins are issued by the Philadelphia mint. The mass and composition of the cent changed to the current copper plated zinc core in 1982, both types were minted in 1982 with no distinguishing mark. Cents minted in 1943 were struck on planchets punched from zinc coated steel which left the resulting edges uncoated and this caused many of these coins to rust. These steel pennies are not likely to be found in circulation today, the wheat cent was mainstream and common during its time. Some dates are rare, but many can still be found in circulation, nickels produced from mid-1942 through 1945 were manufactured from 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese. This allowed the saved nickel metal to be shifted to production of military supplies during World War II. Few of these are found in circulation. Prior to 1965 and passage of the Coinage Act of 1965 the composition of the dime, quarter, half-dollar and dollar coins was 90% silver, the half-dollar continued to be minted in a 40% silver-clad composition between 1965 and 1970. Dimes and quarters from before 1965 and half-dollars from before 1971 are generally not in circulation due to being removed for their silver content, in 1975 and 1976 bicentennial coinage was minted
9.
Large cent
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The United States large cent was a coin with a face value of 1/100 of a United States dollar. Its nominal diameter was 1 1⁄8 inch, the first official mintage of the large cent was in 1793, and its production continued until 1857, when it was officially replaced by the modern-size one-cent coin. Large cents were made of pure copper, or copper as pure as it emerged from smelting. First struck in 1793, the cent was coined every year from 1793 to 1857 except 1815. When the United States declared war in 1812 against Great Britain, the wartime embargo against shipments made it so the mint could not get any new copper planchets to strike coins which were imported from Great Britain. The mint made do with what supply it had and struck coins into 1815, after the war ended in 1816, the mint wasted no time in ordering new planchets. For an unknown reason no coins were dated 1815 from the supply the mint had in the interim, in addition to the copper shortage, people also hoarded precious metals during the war. The Philadelphia Mint produced all large cents, which contained twice the copper of the half cent and this made the coins bulky and heavy, bigger than modern-day U. S. Quarters. The obverse featured a bust of Liberty with a reverse of a ring of chains, henry Voigts design was almost universally criticized in its time for its unattractiveness and perceived allusion to slavery. It bears the distinction, however, of being the first official coinage minted by the United States federal government on its own equipment and premises. As a result, all surviving specimens command high prices ranging from $2, the Mint caved in to the intense ridicule later in 1793, and Mint Director David Rittenhouse ordered Adam Eckfeldt to revise the obverse and reverse designs. Libertys bust was redesigned with longer, wilder hair. Scholars are undecided as to plant or plants are depicted in the wreath, with several varieties extant. Total mintage of the wreath reverse numbered about 63,000 pieces, wrights design faced Liberty to the right and tamed her wild hair. The Phrygian cap was added as an ancient symbol of freedom, the reverse design was revised to a recognizable laurel wreath, and future Chief Engraver Robert Scot had a hand in several minor revisions to the design over the next three years. This design was successful and it was continued into 1796. In 1795, planchets became too thin for the edge lettering because of a reduction, so the mint stopped edge lettering on the cent. Four coins from 1795 are known to have a reeded edge, Robert Scot redesigned the whole of United States coinage for 1796, applying a new design featuring a bust of Liberty wearing a drapery at the neckline and a ribbon in her flowing hair
10.
Flying Eagle cent
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The Flying Eagle cent is a one-cent piece struck by the Mint of the United States as a pattern coin in 1856, and for circulation in 1857 and 1858. The coin was designed by Mint Chief Engraver James B, Longacre, with the eagle in flight based on the work of Longacres predecessor, Christian Gobrecht. By the early 1850s, the large cent being issued by the Mint was becoming unpopular in commerce and expensive to coin. After experimenting with sizes and compositions, the Mint decided on an alloy of 88% copper and 12% nickel for a new. After the Mint produced patterns with an 1856 date and gave them to legislators and officials, the new cent was issued in exchange for the worn Spanish colonial silver coin that had circulated in the U. S. until then, as well as for its larger predecessor. So many cents were issued that they choked commercial channels, especially as they were not legal tender, the eagle design did not strike well, and was replaced in 1859 by Longacres Indian Head cent. The cent was the first official United States coin to be struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 1793 and these pieces, today known as large cents, were made of pure copper and were about the size of a half dollar. They were struck every year, except 1815 due to a shortage of metal, worn Spanish colonial silver pieces were then commonly used as money throughout the United States. The Mint then struck silver or gold in response to deposits by those holding bullion, by the 1840s, profits, or seignorage, from monetizing copper into cents helped fund the Mint. In 1849, copper prices rose sharply, causing the Department of the Treasury to investigate alternatives to the large one-cent pieces. The cent was unpopular in trade, as it was not a legal tender, nobody had to take it, the cent was disliked for its large size as well. In 1837, the eccentric New York chemist Lewis Feuchtwanger had experimented with a smaller cent size in making model coins as part of a plan to sell his alloy to the government for use in coinage. His pieces circulated as hard times tokens in the years of the late 1830s. At the time, it was felt that coins should contain a large proportion of their face value in metal. The coin would be annular, that is, it would have a hole in the middle. The Mint struck experimental pieces, and found that it was difficult to eject such pieces from the presses where they were struck, provisions for a smaller cent were dropped from the legislation that gave congressional approval for the three-cent piece in 1851. Numismatic historian Walter Breen suggested that one factor in rejecting the holed coins was that they reminded many of Chinese cash coins with their minimal purchasing value. A drop in prices in 1851 and early 1852 made the matter of a smaller cent less urgent at the Department of the Treasury
11.
Indian Head cent
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The Indian Head cent, also known as an Indian Head penny, was a one-cent coin produced by the United States Bureau of the Mint from 1859 to 1909. It was designed by James Barton Longacre, the Chief Engraver at the Philadelphia Mint, from 1793 to 1857, the cent was a copper coin about the size of a half dollar. As rising copper prices made it impractical to keep striking them, in 1857 the Mint reduced the size of the cent, issuing a new design, the new pieces were identical in diameter to modern cents, though somewhat thicker and made of copper-nickel. The design caused difficulties, and the Mint soon looked to replace the coin. Mint Director James Ross Snowden selected the Indian Head design, Cents were hoarded during the economic chaos of the American Civil War, when the metal nickel was in short supply. As Mint officials saw that privately issued bronze tokens were circulating, they induced Congress to pass the Coinage Act of 1864, in the postwar period, the cent became very popular and was struck in large numbers in most years. An exception was 1877, when an economy and little demand for cents created one of the rarest dates in the series. With the advent of coin-operated machines in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, even more cents were produced, in 1909, the Indian Head cent was replaced by the Lincoln cent, designed by Victor D. Brenner. The half-dollar-sized large cent was struck from 1793 to 1857, authorized by the Mint Act of 1792 which defined the cent as 1/100 dollar. That coin was intended to close to a cents worth of copper. Nevertheless, because of the constitutional clause making only gold and silver legal tender, the result was the Flying Eagle cent, the same diameter as the later Lincoln cent but somewhat thicker and heavier, composed of 88% copper and 12% nickel. The Flying Eagle cent was struck in limited numbers as a coin in 1856. The Flying Eagle cent was issued in exchange for worn Spanish colonial silver coins and these small cents were also issued in exchange for the copper coins they had replaced. By 1858, Mint authorities found the piece unsatisfactory in production, the high points on both sides of the coin opposed each other, and it was difficult to get the design to be brought out fully in the tough copper-nickel alloy. Longacre, designer of the Flying Eagle cent, was instructed to develop alternative designs and he produced one, showing a slimmer eagle, which would not clash as much with the reverse wreath. Although this would have cured the problem, the design was not liked. Mint Director James Ross Snowden suggested a head of Columbus as an obverse design, in 1858, the Mint tested new designs for the cent. Snowden would make his choice of design would be struck in 1859 from these patterns
