The U.S. Congress continues to govern the U.S. Mint.  An important law that was passed affecting the mint was the Coinage Act of 1965. This act took away all silver from pennies.  Also, The Bank Holding Company Act of 1970 got rid of silver from the half-dollar and dollar coins.  Today United States coins are made of copper, nickel, and zinc.  In 1996 the U.S. Commemorative Coin Act got the 50 State Quarters® Program started.  More recently, in September of 2000, Congress decided to include the District of Columbia and other U.S. Territories in the new quarter program.

Today the United States Mint headquarters are located in Washington, D.C.  Mints in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Denver, Colorado produce most of our coins.  Special coins are produced at the West Point, New York and San Francisco, California Mints.  You can tell which mint a coin came from by looking for a "D" (Denver), "P" (Philadelphia), "S" (San Francisco), or "W" (West Point) on the obverse (front) side of the coin. At the Mint they are very busy and have to work hard so we can get our change.

The Mint makes dollar coins, half-dollars, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. That's a lot of change.