Where Do Dimes Come From

Consider starting this dime collection with the coin Thomas Jefferson used as the basis of a tenth of a Frderal dollar, the half Pistareen of Spain. Five Pistareens to the Spanish Milled Dollar makes the half Pistareen worth ten Federal "cents" a coin TJ said was "perfectly familiar to us all. They circulated in colonial America before 1796 when the first Philadelphia mint Disme / dime came about. Extending the mint set back to Colonial America you ought to get half "cross Pistareens" from Seville, and Madrid which covers the waterfront after 1730.

........you see when a mommy dime and a daddy dime really love each other ..............they mint something really special...

I just did a bit of research on this.




2 reals = 4 to the dollar (official value)

However, you are right in the fact that because of the debased silver content, they were only accepted for 5 to the dollar.

Quick answer: There are eight bits to the Spanish Milled Dollar "piece-of-eight" with each bit or one real equal to twelve and a Half Cents. But Thomas Jefferson was not talking about those, rather he based the dime on the half Pistareen. The confusing part is that both half Pistareen and Spanish Colonial bit say they are one "real" but Pistareens being intended for Spain and not international trade were made 20% light, so that five Pistareens by weight equaled four two bit pieces. Sometimes called long bits and short bits, the Spanish Colonial coins were traded along with Pistareens and their parts before the American Revolution. Pistareens were first made at a time that Spanish Colonial mints were still making cobs. Pistareens had a 25 year head start in commerce over the Spanish Colonial "Pillar" coinage.

Yes. I was not aware of that.

But but you cant have "centavo" without "cent"!

Don't forget there is also a Hawaii dime!