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These days, some people consider spare change to be a bit of a nuisance. It takes up space in your pocket, it’s heavy, and it doesn’t buy you very much. But this certainly wasn’t always the way that Americans viewed coins.
So just for fun, we wanted to take a closer look at the history of coins, their origin, how the Federal Reserve is involved, and the accessories used to manage coins today. Read on to start looking at your regular pocket change in an entirely different way!
The first coinage act in America’s history was approved in 1792 to make the U.S. Mint responsible for making coins to use as currency. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and other early leaders of our country were behind this push to legitimize metal currency.
Due to a silver shortage, the materials to make coins were altered in the 1950s to include metal alloys. While half-dollars, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies have been part of our culture for a long time, dollar the Sacagawea dollar coin was began being released in the year 2000. Many people collect coins still today, especially rare release coins and quarters that represent different states.
However, coins date back much further back than the late 1700s. Some of the earliest coins date back to the fifth century B.C., when the Lydians in modern-day Turkey used gold and silver to create coins. History tells us that coins were also used in ancient India as far back as at least the sixth century B.C. Since then, coins have become a symbol for money and wealth all around the world.
The Federal Reserve Board is responsible for ensuring that there’s enough cash in circulation to meet current and future demands, and Federal Reserve Banks distribute and receive coins by way of depository institutions. Although the U.S. Mint still determines the amount of coins produced each year, the Reserve banks provide the mint with monthly projections and forecasts about how many coins are expected to be used in the future. Coins held by Federal Reserve Banks are balance sheet assets, and these banks buy coins at face value from the Mint.
Since coins can be difficult for banks and businesses to keep organized, certain products are used to contain and sort coins. Coin wrappers hold the various denominations of coins together and are crimped at the end for easy filling and machine sorting. Also known as a bank roll, many banks provide coin wrappers for free. These rolls are often brought into banks to exchange for cash or to be deposited into an account.
At Superior Bag, we have various security bag accessories to hold small, medium, and large amounts of coins. Some of our coin bags even have dual handles and windows as well. And for your convenience and accuracy, our coin bags have lines to write the amounts of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters enclosed.
Now with a better understanding of the role of coins in our financial system, make sure to keep your coins safe, secure, and well-accounted for with the best security bag accessories!
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