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From today's featured article

Obverse of a 1963 Franklin half dollar

The Franklin half dollar coin was struck by the United States Mint from 1948 to 1963. It pictures Founding Father Benjamin Franklin on the obverse, with the Liberty Bell and a small eagle on the reverse. Produced in 90 percent silver with a reeded edge, the coin was struck at the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco mints. Mint director Nellie Tayloe Ross had long admired Franklin, and asked the Mint's chief engraver, John Sinnock, to design the coin; his initials appear on the obverse, but some mistook them for the initials of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. When Ross submitted the designs to the Commission of Fine Arts, they disliked the small eagle and felt that depicting the crack in the Liberty Bell would expose the coinage to jokes and ridicule; nevertheless, the Mint proceeded with Sinnock's designs. Beginning in 1964 the coin was replaced by the Kennedy half dollar, issued in honor of the assassinated President, John F. Kennedy. Though the coin is still legal tender, its face value is greatly exceeded by its value to collectors or as silver. (Full article...)

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Female Australasian darter
Australasian darter

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Hillsborough memorial
Hillsborough memorial

On this day...

April 30: Holy Saturday (Eastern Christianity, 2016); National Persian Gulf Day in Iran; Consumer Protection Day in Thailand

William McIntosh
William McIntosh

Today's featured picture

Stockholm Central Station

Stockholm Central Station, located in the district of Norrmalm at Vasagatan/Central Plan, is the largest railway station in Sweden. Designed by Adolf W. Edelsvärd and opened on 18 July 1871, it has over 200,000 visitors daily. Engineers use the heat generated by these visitors to help heat a nearby office building.

Photograph: Arild Vågen

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