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It's called a Nickel because that is what it is made from
Then why isn't it called a copper? It's made from three times as much copper than nickel.
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you say our forefathers used cent and not penny.
Actually due to familiarity, even after the mint opened they tended to still operate in pounds/shillings/and pence, or in dollars and eighths.
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There's no disputing that, just as B.Franklin said "A penny saved is a penny earned".
Of course when he said that we were still British subjects and there were no cents.
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It was called a Penny as a throw back to colonial times when the US settlers came from The UK where the copper coin was a PENNY.
The British copper coin was the half penny. The penny coin was a small silver coin and had not been struck for over a hundred years so no one had probably ever seen one.
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there has never been to my knowledge an official coin produced by the Mint that has inscribed Penny as a value.
There has but they were being struck for other countries.
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And the US coin referred to as a Nickel has FIVE CENTS written on it!
So why does no one mind it being called a Nickel?
I admit that I do get sloppy from time to time and refer to the five cent piece as a nickel, but I am trying to break myself of the habit.
The thing is that using proper terms is important. If you get sloppy on this and are allowed to get away with it, then how can we object to the use of improper terms in other areas? Shall we look the other way and let doubled die an double die be used interchangeably? And what obout other terms that have been used to describe doubled dies such as double struck, shift cents? Shall we let people call
Machine Doubling Damage,
Mechanical Doubling ejection doubling, chatter strikes or even doubled dies? Die cracks and die breaks interchangeably? And since
Cuds are die breaks I guess it will be OK to call die cracks
Cuds as well. Shouldn't be any problem if I talk about suction marks, and off-center coins can be referred to as "mis-printed".
No I prefer to try to stay with the proper terms please, and the proper term for the coin that represent 1/100 of a dollar is a cent.
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I mean to say that don't we as a group become responsible to use the "proper " terminology while discussing coins and such.
The use of proper terms is the mark of a professional or a serious student. The use of improper terms or slang is the mark of the amateur, layman, or ill-informed.