Nickels & Dimes - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 6 / Views: 1,404
TheForce Pillar of the Community United States 4867 Posts	Posted 03/15/2015 12:36 pm Why does a small coin such as a dime have a higher face value than a larger coin, the nickel with a smaller face value? * Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. * Report this Post to the Staff

TypeCoin971793 Pillar of the Community United States 6370 Posts	Posted 03/15/2015 12:51 pm It used to be based on metallic content. Now it is just that we were so used to the coin sizes of the past, the government never bothered to change the size of circulating coinage, with the exception of the dollars. Report this Post to the Staff
gshobar Valued Member United States 75 Posts	Posted 03/15/2015 12:55 pm It is in part because of the sizes of the quarter, half dollar, and silver dollar. The dime, quarter, and half dollar are all rashional in size and denomination. The silver dollar coin is approximately also 2 times the size (and obviously denomination) of the half dollar, but a little bit off. I don't know why they chose those coins... Perhaps they were the most circulating, high denomination coins... The nickel would obviously not fit into the equation, so maybe they wanted to make sure it was easily distinguishable from dime and quarter. If it was the same composition with Reese's edges and all, it would have a similar story as the SBA dollar. I Don't know exactly why, by that's my theory on their reasoning. Report this Post to the Staff
McNickel Valued Member Canada 261 Posts	Posted 03/15/2015 3:07 pm The original 5 cent piece was called a ' Half Dime' not a 'Nickel', and did indeed contain ½ the silver of a dime, it was also smaller in diameter & thickness. I'm guessing when they began producing the coins with copper/nickel they made them bigger than a dime for ease of handling. Report this Post to the Staff
Bertensgrad Pillar of the Community United States 1192 Posts	Posted 03/15/2015 4:30 pm The Half Dimes were extremely hard to handle since they were half the size of a dime. With nickel being a cheaper metal; the nickel became like the cent where size ratios didn't matter. The Canadians had a similar Half Dime and they were nicknamed fish scales. Report this Post to the Staff
Altaira Pillar of the Community Canada 2517 Posts	Posted 03/15/2015 4:50 pm In Canada they minted the Half Dime (fishscale) up to 1921. WW1 pushed silver prices up, so they switched to a base metal. Since it's a base metal, they can make the size bigger and the intrinsic value is still 5 cents or less. I wonder how did people not lose them? Report this Post to the Staff
jbuck Moderator United States 187702 Posts	Posted 03/16/2015 11:03 am Everyone gets it. The sizes are a historical artifact from when coins contained precious metals. The size increase when we changed from the silver Half Dime to a base metal five cent piece was done to improve handling. Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
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