LOL Actually my life started the only year I know of when American didn’t issue a copper penny. That one year during the 2nd WW, the “white penny” (or “lead penny”) was made of a zinc alloy because copper was needed for the war effort. I do recall when our “wheat penny” design changed to the current Lincoln (Lincoln memorial on the backside) penny when I was working behind a soda fountain in a drug store during the late 50’s. I’ve seen the half-cent, Indian head penny and two cent piece that common poor people would have tucked away as their “coin collection” but none were in circulation in my lifetime.

It was around that same time when $1 bill silver certificate was changed to a Federal Reserve note with little enough design change that you had to have one of each together to see the differences.

The current Jefferson nickel was as common as the older buffalo nickel with what I think was Sitting Bull’s head on the front and the standing buffalo on the back, and has gradually disappeared with little fanfare. (took a lot of good money jokes with it too ) Silver dollars (“cart wheels”) coins were always available at the bank by request and often given as gifts. Half-dollars (50 cent piece, “half-wheels” “four-bits”) were in ready circulation to where there was a compartment in the cash register coin drawer for them. The Kennedy half-dollar came out sometime in the 60’s and is fading with the rest of the halves now.

Besides the going away of the couple items mentioned, those were the major changes in the first half century of my life. I had heard that the $10,000.00 bill was taken out of circulation but I adjusted.

The last few years has seen American currency revised, remodeled and redesigned on almost a monthly basis to where I just look for English spelling on it and hope somebody else will accept it in exchange.

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