The first million dollar sale of a single private coin collection was that of George F. Scanlon auctioned by Stack's on Oct. 24-27, 1973. It brought $1,093,890.00. He had only collected for 10 years.

E PLURIBUS UNUM (one out of many) first appeared on the 1795 Liberty Cap-Heraldic Eagle gold half eagle.

The Peace Dollar represents the first time where the word "Peace" was used on a coin of any nation.

The largest gold nugget on record was found in 1869 in Victoria, Australia. It weighed 208 pounds.

The motto IN GOD WE TRUST first appeared on a coin of the U.S. in 1864, during the Civil War.

The smallest monetary unit ever issued in the U.S. was the half cent. It was minted from 1793 through 1857.

The Smithsonian Coin Collection has approximately 850,000 coins.