There used to be a money shortage problem in the U.S.
After being settled by England, the colonies were banned from making their own currency and were forced to use the limited coins brought over with them — or to creatively barter with each other, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
But in 1652, Massachusetts started making its own coins against the British directive. In an attempt to mitigate any punishment they would receive if the British ever found the currency illegal, they dated all of the coins with the year “1652” — even though they continued to be produced for many years.