Welcome to the fall 2004 issue of Making Cents, the online newsletter that tells you what's new and striking at the United States Mint. Be sure to check back every 3 months for a new issue.
Fall Fun
Fall is a great time of year...a new school year, new friends and teachers, and big holidays when you can take a look back at the year behind you. The year 2004 was a big year for the United States Mint as well. We minted two new nickels, five new quarters, and two cool commemorative coins: the Thomas Edison silver dollar and the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial silver dollar...not to mention our other circulating coins.
The United States Mint H.I.P. Pocket Change™ Web site offered four new games: Quarter Explorer, Presidential Portraits, Inventor's Challenge, and the Lewis and Clark Adventure. (You HAVE played them, haven't you?) Add to that list twelve new Coins of the Month, twelve new fun facts, Inspector Collector's Coin Course, tips on how to share your hobby, and dozens of new lesson plans and Teacher Features for educators, and you have one big, exciting year!
Best of all, 2005 promises to be just as exciting! So come back often and make H.I.P. Pocket Change one of your favorite bookmarked places for safe and fun surfing on the Web!
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Time Machine Gets Overhaul!
Peter the Mint Eagle has been tinkering again. He has learned a lot since the Time Machine was first built and the pals have cool new ideas about how to have fun in the past. So Peter is improving his Time Machine, and the first exciting results are in!
So far, the first three time trips have been expanded with more movement and activities to make them even more fun. His Clothesmatic 3000 has a whole new look, too! Step into the time continuum at Time Machine! Peter and his friends can hardly wait to share the new adventures with you!
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Medal Mania's Newest Addition
This year, Congress awarded a new gold medal. The medal went to Dorothy I. Height, who has worked hard for civil rights. Read about her work in the medal collections called Black History Medals and Women's History Medals in Camp Coin's Medal Mania Workshop.
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Quarter of the Quarter: Wisconsin
As fall is the last quarter of 2004, we get to look at the last quarter of 2004, which recognizes the state of Wisconsin. How much do you know about this great state? If your Wisconsin smarts could use a boost, we have two pages chock full of info for you!
Bill the Mint Buffalo takes a close look at this state and presents his findings as October's Coin of the Month. Bill enjoys talking about the state's dairy and farm products almost as much as visiting with his cousin the cow.
And of course, there's a whole page devoted to this quarter in the Coin News section we call "The Coins Are Coming." Check it out!
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Pal's Place: Peter
Which place on the site does each United States Mint H.I.P. Pocket Change pal like best? We'll just let them tell you themselves. In this issue, we have a word from Peter the Mint Eagle:
"I guess it's not too hard to figure out which part of the site is my favorite...because I invented it! That's right, it's Time Machine! And, as you read above, I'm rebuilding the machine so that traveling in it is even more fun.
"Where did I get the idea to build a time machine? It happened one day when my pals and I were enjoying our cool coin collections together. The coins showed such interesting people, places, and events that we started wondering.what were those times like? What were the people like? We had lots of questions that could be answered best by being there.and suddenly, BAM! Like a bolt of lightning, the idea struck me: Build a time machine!
"So we did!
"Of course, figuring out how to bend the fabric of the universe took a long, long time...almost a whole week! Then we grabbed all the broken machines and spare parts we could find, worked day and night, and built this vehicle, which can travel through both space and time, and provide costumes to boot!
"Now you can come with us into American history! The new, improved machine is ready to go to the first three eras. The old machine will cover the others. Just click on the Time Machine coin icon whenever you have the time.
"Actually, there's plenty of time in the Time Machine!"
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Fall 2004 Crossword
Hope you've enjoyed reading Making Cents! Click to see and print out the crossword puzzle, which uses words from all the articles in this issue. This will test your memory, but if you need clues, go back to the articles. Most of the words in the puzzle were in this issue.
Check your answers with the answer key.
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