In 1953, What change was made to our coins and currency?

Question

In 1953, What change was made to our coins and currency?

Answer 1

I may be wrong about the years, but I had a teacher in high school who used to talk about this all the time.

Before a certain time, possibly 1953, nickels were actually made up of almost entirely of nickel.  Now, they are made primarily of zinc.  Zinc is a cheaper metal and more accessible.  Pennies were made up entirely of copper but now are just laced with copper.  Both these coins now only have about 5% of the metal for which they are famous.  Also, quarters and dimes actually had some silver in it.  Now, it costs too much to put precious metals in coins.

Answer 2

" In God We Trust" was added to paper currency after lengthy debate.

The phrase had been on coins since the mid 1800's