Money Museum

09/08/2026

Today's Feature: 1949 Franklin Half Dollar ANA 1989.151.567 | Object: # 174 🇺🇸

Introduced in 1948, the Franklin half dollar replaced Adolph A. Weinman’s Walking Liberty design, completing the replacement of silver coins introduced during the “Renaissance of American Coinage.” Yet Benjamin Franklin was an unusual choice. While presidents increasingly dominated circulating coinage, Franklin never held that office. Inventor, printer, scientist, statesman, and diplomat, he also played an important role in the development of American paper money. (Tune in to our podcast, Worth Its Weight, next week for an entire episode about Franklin’s anti-counterfeiting efforts!)

Franklin’s appearance was championed by longtime Mint Director Nellie Tayloe Ross, who considered several denominations before settling on the half dollar. Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock designed the coin, returning to the Liberty Bell he previously used on the 1926 Sesquicentennial half dollar. After Sinnock’s death in 1947, Gilroy Roberts completed the design.

💬 Is the Liberty Bell the right symbol to pair with Benjamin Franklin?

Explore our (R)evolution in Currency features online today: https://www.money.org/money-museum/america250/

09/07/2026

Happy Labor Day from the ANA Money Museum! 🪙

Today, we celebrate the dedication, creativity, and hard work of people everywhere— Labor Day reminds us that behind every accomplishment, big or small, is teamwork, perseverance, and ingenuity.

This Labor Day, take a break and dive the history of our nation and the world as seen through money.. Explore our virtual exhibits to discover the stories of inventors, innovators, and everyday people who shaped our world. 🏛️💰

➡️ https://bit.ly/4gxCwQo

09/04/2026

Today's Feature: 1948 S Washington Quarter Dollar ANA 1989.151.527 | Object: # 173 🇺🇸

The 1948 S Washington quarter dollar had the lowest mintage of the year’s three issues, with just under 16 million struck. Yet lower mintage does not always mean greater rarity. San Francisco coins were widely saved by collectors, and the 1948 S remains readily available in Mint State today—a reminder that survival can matter just as much as the number produced.

Its low mintage reflects a larger postwar shift. After the enormous demand for coinage during World War II, Mint production declined as the nation adjusted to peacetime. The world was changing, too: in 1948, the Marshall Plan began rebuilding war-torn Europe, President Truman ordered the desegregation of the U.S. Armed Forces, and his surprise reelection produced the famously premature headline, “Dewey Defeats Truman!” (Talk about a collector’s item 😉)

💬 What coin taught you not to judge rarity by mintage alone?

Explore our (R)evolution in Currency features online today: https://www.money.org/money-museum/america250/

09/03/2026

Today's Feature: 1947 Commemorative Half Dollar Booker T. Washington ANA 2009.32.243 | Object: # 172 🇺🇸

First issued in 1946, the Booker T. Washington half dollar was the first United States coin to depict an African American and the first designed by a Black sculptor, Isaac Scott Hathaway. These milestones came at a complicated moment: Washington entered American coinage while segregation remained entrenched across much of the country and Black veterans returned from World War II to a nation that still denied them equal rights.

Born enslaved in 1856, Virginian Booker T. Washington became one of the nation’s most prominent Black educators and longtime leader of Tuskegee Institute. The coin’s reverse traces his remarkable journey from his humble birthplace cabin to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans. Despite the significance of the issue, commemorative program sales continued to decline, and thousands of unsold coins were eventually melted.

💬 Which coin do you think represents the biggest turning point in who—or what—America was willing to depict on its money?

Explore our (R)evolution in Currency features online today: https://www.money.org/money-museum/america250/

09/03/2026

Listen now! 🎧

09/02/2026

Today's Feature: 1946 S Roosevelt Dime Lexington-Concord Sesquicentennial ANA 1989.63.54 | Object: # 171 🇺🇸

Following President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death on April 12, 1945, the Treasury moved quickly to honor him on the dime. The denomination was especially appropriate because of Roosevelt’s close association with the March of Dimes, founded to combat polio, the disease that paralyzed his legs. The organization later broadened its mission to improving the health of mothers and babies.

Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock designed both sides. His obverse presents a relatively straightforward portrait of Roosevelt, but the reverse is rich with symbolism appropriate to the immediate postwar moment: a central torch represents liberty, flanked by an olive branch for peace and an oak branch for strength and independence. It’s a remarkably compact summary of what Americans hoped would follow World War II: liberty protected by strength but directed toward peace.

💬 What other American would you honor on a coin, not just for who they were, but for a cause they championed?

Explore our (R)evolution in Currency features online today: https://www.money.org/money-museum/america250/

09/01/2026

09/01/2026

Today's Feature: 1945 D Winged Liberty “Mercury” Dime ANA 1981.200.28 | Object: # 170 🇺🇸

The Winged Liberty dime ended its 30-year run in 1945, the same year World War II ended. Adolph A. Weinman’s design depicted Liberty wearing a winged cap, symbolizing freedom of thought, although the portrait’s resemblance to the Roman god Mercury gave this coin its during nickname.

Its replacement reflected a larger transformation in American coinage. In 1946, the dime would honor the recently deceased Franklin D. Roosevelt, continuing the shift from allegorical figures toward real Americans. Unlike Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln, Roosevelt belonged to living memory: millions of Americans had heard his voice on the radio and experienced his presidency through the Great Depression and World War II. The change also moved American coinage further away from the classical, Beaux-Arts aesthetic that had defined its early 20th century renaissance.

💬 Which tells America’s story better through coins: symbolic figures like Liberty or the people who shaped its history?

Explore our (R)evolution in Currency features online today: https://bit.ly/4zRq5q0

08/31/2026

Today's Feature: 1944 1934-A $5 Hawaii Emergency Star Note ANA 2024.11.101 | Object: # 169 🇺🇸

Following the December 7, 1941attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii became the front line of America’s war in the Pacific. Fearing the islands might be invaded, the U.S. government prepared an extraordinary contingency plan. Beginning in 1942, all circulating paper money in Hawaii was replaced with specially overprinted notes bearing the word HAWAII on both sides. If the islands fell into enemy hands, these notes would be declared worthless, preventing the Japanese from strengthening their own economy through American money.

Life in wartime Hawaii changed dramatically. Martial law remained in effect for nearly 3 years, blackouts became routine, beaches were fortified with barbed wire, and thousands of civilians worked alongside the military to defend the islands. These emergency notes became everyday reminders that the war was not a distant conflict—it had reached American soil.

This example is a 1934-A $5 Star Note, printed to replace a note damaged during production. Only about 8,000 were printed, and just 11 examples are currently recorded, making it the rarest note in the Hawaiian Emergency series. Donated by Dr. Carlson Chambliss, it is one of the museum’s greatest paper money treasures.

💬 What do you think it felt like to carry money that could be deemed worthless overnight?

Explore our (R)evolution in Currency features online today: https://www.money.org/money-museum/america250/

08/28/2026

Today's Feature: 1943 Lincoln Steel Cent ANA 1968.52.27 | Object: # 168 🇺🇸

To conserve copper for World War II, the U.S. Mint replaced the traditional bronze cent with a zinc-coated steel version. More than one billion were produced at the Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco Mints, making the 1943 steel cent one of the most recognizable emergency issues in American history. Although the design was unchanged, its bright silver color surprised the public.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. The zinc coating wore quickly in circulation, allowing the steel underneath to rust. The new cents were also often mistaken for dimes and sometimes rejected by vending machines. Despite these shortcomings, many Americans saved the unusual coins as souvenirs of the war, leaving large numbers in excellent condition today.

💰 FUN FACT: A few leftover bronze planchets from 1942 were accidentally struck with the 1943 date. These rare 1943 bronze cents are non-magnetic, slightly heavier than the steel cents, and rank among the most valuable U.S. coins ever made. Some have sold for over $1 million! If you think you’ve found one, the first test is simple: try a magnet!

Explore our (R)evolution in Currency features online today: https://www.money.org/money-museum/america250/