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US Coins and Currency

Value Image Obverse Reverse
Coins

Penny

Abraham Lincoln
16th U.S. President
The Lincoln Memorial
Nickel
Thomas Jefferson
3rd U.S. President
Monticello
Jefferson's home
Dime
10¢
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
32nd U.S. President

Olive Branch,
Torch,
Oak Branch.

Quarter
25¢
George Washington
1st U.S. President
American Bald Eagle

Half-Dollar
50¢

John F. Kennedy
35th U.S. President
The Presidential Seal
Silver Dollar
$1
Susan B. Anthony
Apollo 11 Insignia, Eagle
Golden Dollar
$1
Sacagawea
Soaring Eagle and 17 Stars
Currency
$1
1 dollar bill
George Washington
1st U.S. President
The Great Seal of the United States
$2
2 dollar bill
Thomas Jefferson
3rd U.S. President
Signing of the Declaration of Independence
-or-
Monticello
$5
5 dollar bill
Abraham Lincoln
16th U.S. President
Lincoln Memorial
$10
10 dollar bill
Alexander Hamilton
1st U.S. Treasury Secretary
U.S. Treasury
$20
20 dollar bill
Andrew Jackson
7th U.S. President
The White House
$50
50 dollar bill
Ulysses S. Grant
18th U.S. President
U.S. Capitol
$100
100 dollar bill
Benjamin Franklin
Independence Hall
$500*
500 dollar bill
William McKinley
25th U.S. President
"Five Hundred Dollars"
$1,000*
1,000 dollar bill
Grover Cleveland
22nd/24th U.S. President
"One Thousand Dollars"
$5,000*
5,000 dollar bill
James Madison
4th U.S. President
"Five Thousand Dollars"
$10,000*
10,000 dollar bill
Salmon P. Chase
25th U.S. Treasury Secretary
"Ten Thousand Dollars"
$100,000*
100,000 dollar bill
Woodrow Wilson
28th U.S. President
"One Hundred Thousand Dollars"
* no longer in circulation

Money Facts

  • Quarters, nickels, and dimes are currently made from nickel and copper.

  • Pennies are currently made from copper plated zinc.

  • Coins with ridges were originally made with precious metals. The ridges were used to easily detect people clipping or filing off these precious metals.

  • A U.S. Quarter has 119 grooves on its circumference. A dime has 118 grooves.

  • Lincoln faces to the right because the penny was an adaptation of a plaque.

  • E Pluribus Unum means "Out of Many, One".

  • On the back of a Roosevelt dime, the center torch signifies liberty. The oak branch to the right signifies strength and independence. The olive branch to the left signifies peace.

  • On an American one dollar bill, there is an owl in the upper left-hand corner of the "1" encased in the "shield" and a spider hidden in the front upper right-hand corner.

  • The law prohibits portraits of living persons from appearing on Government
    Securities.

  • Currency paper is composed of 25% linen and 75% cotton.