Antony and Cleopatra, one of history’s most romantic couples, were not the great beauties that Hollywood would have us believe, academics have said.

Read more.

Things aren’t looking good for the new dollar coins debuting tomorrow. One strike against them is that the dollar bill will remain in use. This Denver Post article writes,

The world has moved beyond small bills to coins. Canadians have their Loonie, Australians use coins, and the smallest bill in the European Union is the 5-euro note. America is alone among developed nations with such a small denomination bank note.

The people of these countries use coins because they do not have a choice. Aussies complain of walking with a limp because of the weight of coins in their pockets. Brits call their pounds “shrapnel money,” and Canadian exotic dancers cringe at the sight of a Loonie as a tip.

But, life goes on in these countries. Why hasn’t America followed suit?

I don’t find that to be a very compelling reason. Everyone else is doing it and the citizens don’t like it, so let’s do it too to be like them!

LJ World interviewed some people to get their take on using coins vs. bills. The general consensus was that bills aren’t as convenient as bills.

Still, the introduction of the new dollar coins is certainly getting lots of press.

WASHINGTON – Maybe Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea should not take public rejection personally. It’s not easy overcoming people’s indifference to dollar coins, even those honoring such historic figures.

An AP-Ipsos poll found that three-fourths of people surveyed oppose replacing the dollar bill, featuring George Washington, with a dollar coin. People are split evenly on the idea of having both a dollar bill and a dollar coin.

A new version of the coin, paying tribute to American presidents, goes into general circulation Thursday. Even though doing away with the bill could save hundreds of millions of dollars each year in printing costs, there is no plan to scrap the bill in favor of the more durable coin.

“I really don’t see any use for it,” Larry Ashbaugh, a retiree from Bristolville, Ohio, said of the dollar coin. “We tried it before. It didn’t fly.”

Two recent efforts to promote wide usage of a dollar coin proved unsuccessful. A quarter-century ago, it showed feminist Susan B. Anthony on the front; then one in 2000 featuring Sacagawea, the Shoshone Indian who helped guide the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Read the rest at Fox News.

1. When was the first Barber dime issued?

2. When was the decimal system adopted in British Honduras?

3. Where is the plate position number on a modern Federal Reserve note?

4. What was the first public building erected by the US Government?

5. What copper coin was eventually replaced by one of the same denomination called the Flying Eagle?

Answers

In 1999 the first five of the ‘50 State Quarters’ were released by the U.S. Mint. Here’s a guide and a little history about those first five coins…

The ‘50 State Quarters’ program was designed to honor the individual 50 states that comprise the United States through a series of circulating quarters being issued from 1999 to 2008. They are being released in the same order that the states joined the union.

Here’s the guide from Associated Content.

If you’ve been following this site for a while, you realize that I’m not a big fan of the National Collectors Mint. They use deceptive advertising and are trying to capitalize on a national tragedy. In fact, some believe that they’re outright lying because they’re unable to prove that the silver they use (in minuscule amounts) was actually from under the debris at Ground Zero.

I am pleased to hear that officials from the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation have rejected donations of more than $30,000 from a Westchester company that marketed ⁹⁄₁₁ commemorative coins (the company, as you might have guessed, is none other than the National Collectors Mint). (via gothamist)

Here’s the history of what I’ve posted about the National Collectors Mint in the order that they were posted (oldest first).

Deceptive Advertising National Collectors Mint Shut Down National Collector’s Mint FAQ US Mint seeks to prevent deception National Mint at it again National Collectors Mint at it again Making a mint off ⁹⁄₁₁