The dual date supported for the 2026 Semiquincentennial cent and nickel was 1776~2026.
The date links the founding-era year 1776 with the anniversary year 2026. The tilde, rather than a simple hyphen, was used in the proposed presentation to distinguish the paired historical dates on the coins.
The cent and nickel were not given complete thematic redesigns in the same way as the special 2026 quarter program. For production reasons, the Mint’s proposals retained much of each coin’s existing appearance while adding the anniversary notation. The dual date was intended to identify the 250-year span at a glance.
The notation is different from 1776–1976, which belongs to the United States Bicentennial. That earlier celebration marked 200 years and appeared on coins and other national commemorative materials during 1976. The 2026 pairing instead connects 1776 with the Semiquincentennial year.