Wikipedia:Today's featured article/July 4, 2015
The United States Bicentennial coins are commemorative versions of the Washington quarter, Kennedy half dollar and Eisenhower dollar (pictured). They bear the double date 1776–1976, though some were struck in 1975 as well as 1976. The US Mint had opposed issuing commemorative coins since the 1950s, but beginning in 1971, members of Congress introduced bills authorizing coins to honor the Bicentennial. New legislation required the temporary redesign of the reverse of the quarter, half dollar and dollar; a nationwide competition yielded designs of a Colonial drummer for the quarter, Independence Hall for the half dollar, and the Liberty Bell superimposed against the moon for the dollar. The coins that circulated were in copper nickel, and so many were struck that they remain common today. Congress also mandated that 45,000,000 part-silver pieces be available for collectors; the Mint sold over half before withdrawing them from sale in 1986 and melting the remainder. (Full article...)
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