20 Cents (Pattern)

The 1874 Twenty-Cent Pattern: a coin the Mint built before Congress said yes

In 1874 the U.S. Mint started making a coin that did not yet legally exist. A senator from a silver-mining state wanted a twenty-cent piece, and the Mint quietly cut the dies to be ready. The patterns it struck — test coins, never meant to spend — are the rehearsal for one of the biggest flops in American coinage.