Ten Lesser-Known U.S. Coins

In the history of the United States, plenty of coins and monetary denominations have come and gone. Just ask anyone who's old enough to know that a Susan B. Anthony is worth the same as a Sacajawea! Each of the bygone coins has a story behind it. Have you ever heard of the twenty-cent piece?

The shortest-lived circulated coin in U.S. history, the twenty-cent piece only lasted from 1875 to 1878. Once again, this was America attempting to keep parity with Europe—France, in particular. Their twenty-franc piece was approximately the same size and material as the twenty-cent piece, and so the two could, in theory, be exchanged equally.

In reality, this was almost never done. Though francs were a popular reserve currency at the time, the average citizen didn’t have much of a need for a twenty cent coin, especially since quarters were already well-established.

Some of the coins on the list of ten lesser-known U.S. coins were never in circulation, and some are still legal -although you probably won't see them. More