While there have been many robbery attempts at the United States Mint, most would-be thieves don’t make it out the door with the money. Here are the stories of five robberies that were at least initially successful— and what happened to the stolen money. 1. The Denver Mint Robbery On the afternoon of December 18,…

Each year around St. Patrick’s Day, people start thinking about rainbows and the pots of gold coins that lie at the end of them. Well, some of us would like to believe so. But where did this Irish legend start? There are actually at least two competing theories. The Emerald Isle is dotted with large…

In the mid-19th century, the area that is now Portland, Oregon, wasn’t much more than an endless stand of ancient evergreens rising around the banks of the Willamette River. One day in 1843 or 1844, while traveling from Fort Vancouver to Oregon City by canoe, a pioneer from Tennessee and a lawyer from Boston stopped…

Imagine this: you take your dog out for a walk on your property. You’re strolling down a trail you’ve walked down for years, but today something catches your eye. It’s just the lip of a rusty can that’s popped out of the ground, but you bend over to take a closer look and pull it…

Upon reading a newspaper account of his demise, Mark Twain wrote to the New York Journal, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” Much the same could be said about last year’s reports of the “end of the gold era,” which seem to have been way off the mark in light of the recent…

Diamonds have long been the world’s most precious gemstones, admired universally for their strength and beauty. And while the stone in your engagement ring or diamond necklace may be millions of years old, the odds are that it was recovered fairly recently from the depths of the earth in an African diamond mine. Since diamonds…

Everyone’s talking about Bitcoin these days. From tales about the digital currency’s mysterious founder to strike-it-rich stories about early investors, Bitcoin has captured the world’s imagination — as well as its dollars. The investment market for bitcoins is so hot that some investors are concerned about a possible bitcoin bubble. If you’re thinking of investing…

According to a study published in USA Today, weddings are on the uptick again after years of decline. Is 2014 the year you’ll be hearing wedding bells? If you’re planning to get married, you’ve probably been thinking about diamond engagement rings. A beautiful diamond engagement ring can take your loved one’s breath away and be…

These days, it doesn’t matter much whether the $20 bill you’ve got in your wallet was printed in Washington, DC, or Fort Worth, Texas. However, in the early days of the United States, it was pretty important to know which bank issued your money — if you wanted to actually buy something. Up until the…