CONTENTS A NEW COUNTRY 4 MINTING THE MINT 6 THE MINT’S FIRST BATCH 8 MINTS AROUND THE COUNTRY 10 WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO 12 MAKING COINS 14 SPECIAL COINS 16 STRIKING MEDALS 18 START A COLLECTION 20 LEARNING MORE 22 GLOSSARY 23 INDEX 24 WEBSITES 24
A NEW COUNTRY The United States of America became a new country on July 4 1776 when Congress approved the Declaration of Independence This event would change the lives of everyone living in what were once the British colonies in North America Without Great Britain’s control Americans had to start over They had to build their own government write their own laws establish a system of taxes and create their own money the structure of the U S government made certain issues very clear When creating institutions in the new country leaders had to make sure they weren’t threatening the people’s rights control of the Department of the Treasury The U S Mint makes coins but it does not make paper money The Bureau of Engraving and Printing also under the Department of the Treasury makes all U S paper money The U S Constitution which lays out Today the U S Mint falls under the 4
An image of the signing of the Declaration of Independence appears on back of the United States 2 bill There aren’t many 2 bills in circulation Many people collect them 5
