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 Replies: 13 / Views: 1,976 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4867 Posts |
I have always wondered this, weather it be US or Canadian coins...why are dimes smaller than nickels? Was this by design? And now half dollars are larger than current dollar coins.  |
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
Without going to Google ,I would say because Dimes were always minted with a substancial amount of silver content. Up until 1964 (U.S.) and Nickels never were minted with any silver . I believe that's why the Dime is smaller than the Nickel .  Looking for other suggestions . |
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Valued Member
United States
226 Posts |
Originally the five cent coin of the US was a Half Dime... and as you can imagine it was exactly that, silver and half the weight of a dime. The adoption of Nickel as an alternate composition still dictated that there be intrinsic value in the five cent coin, I am not sure how much nickel cost in the 1800s but I suspect that the size/weight of the nickel was chosen to approximate an intrinsic value. I also suspect that there was some political motivation in urging the US to incorporate nickel into its coinage due to mining lobbyists. I'm sure other members here can cite historic specifics with much more detail. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1601 Posts |
I'm with Jake, except remember that the nickel is 75% copper. I think when we went to that form of a 5cents the coin started to take on a more symbolic than PM value. IMHO
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4867 Posts |
It seems the dime being a higher denomination would be a bigger coin than the nickel. More interestingly the penny is bigger than the dime!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4211 Posts |
I'm with T-Bop. Prior to 1964 the silver content of dimes would have prevented a larger size.
The early 1/2 dimes made of silver were half the size of the dime.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2843 Posts |
If we were to apply the size argument, why is a $20 gold smaller than a silver $1.
Or a number of other examples.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5825 Posts |
In the beginning the value of the metal in a coin was to be equal to the face value of the coin.
Silver was worth more than copper and later nickel.
So initially 10¢ worth of silver was a smaller piece of metal than 5¢ worth of the copper/nickel in a 5¢ coin.
Same applies to the copper in a 1¢ coin.
Note that as the price of copper increased the cent coin got smaller until the Mint in 1856/1857 settled on a final cent size.
BUT
1¢ of copper still produced a larger coin than 10¢ worth of silver as silver price increased also.
Eventually the Mint said "heck with it" and standardized the size and metal content of each coin regardless of intrinsic metal value.
Of course there were occasional changes as time went by.
Silver was eliminated starting in 1965 (except for halves; they changed in 1972).
And the cent changed in 1987(?).
And now the production cost of each cent and nickel exceeds the face value of those coins.
But Congress will change that; just don't hold your breath until it happens.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2023 Posts |
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If we were to apply the size argument, why is a $20 gold smaller than a silver $1. Historically, the prices of gold and silver were fixed, and the coins were minted to contain gold or silver in corresponding amounts (sizes) such that their face value was equivalent to their metallic value. For example, "A double eagle is a gold coin of the United States with a denomination of $20. (Its gold content of 0.9675 troy oz (30.0926 grams) was worth $20 at the 1849 official price of $20.67/oz.)" Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_eagleOn the silver side, "By 1853, the value of a US Silver Dollar contained in gold terms, $1.07 of silver. With the Mint Act of 1853, all US Silver coins, except for the US Silver Dollar and new 3 cent coin, were reduced by 6.9% as of weight with arrows on the date to denote reduction." Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolla...ited_States)The use of both a gold standard and a silver standard is called "bimetallism", and was established in the US withthe Coinage Act of 1792: "Then in 1792, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton proposed fixing the silver to gold exchange rate at 15:1, as well as establishing the mint for the public services of free coinage and currency regulation "in order not to abridge the quantity of circulating medium.". With its acceptance, Sec.11 of the Coinage Act of 1792 established: "That the proportional value of gold to silver in all coins which shall by law be current as money within the United States, shall be as fifteen to one, according to quantity in weight, of pure gold or pure silver;" the proportion had slipped by 1834 to sixteen to one." Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimet...nited_States |
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Rest in Peace
United States
17900 Posts |
Thank you Kanga and Alpha. I was starting to twitch with some of the earlier answers.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11951 Posts |
 Very good writes ups ...Alpha and Kanga I would correct ... first copper nickel half dollars was 1971. The Lincoln Cent metal change was mid year 1982. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
996 Posts |
Or to put it another way:
Originally in the USA there were 3 sets of coinage: Gold, Silver and Copper. Coins in each set were worth about their weight in the metal. A dime was about a tenth the weight of the silver dollar, a fifth the weight of the half etc. Silver coins over the years included the 3, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50 cent and one dollar coins.
Gold coinage was also relative to value and weight. It was discontinued in the 30's. Copper coins of the 19th century (half cent, 2 cent and penny) were also based on weight of the metal; the 2-cent coin was twice as heavy as the penny.
When silver became more valuable as metal than the coin it represented it was replaced by base metals. Size and shapes were retained to keep people and machines happy.
The dollar coin we have today is the only one whose size is not related to it's metal value, past or present.
Edited by n9jig
12/05/2016 08:05 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4867 Posts |
There are quite a few coins both American and Canadian that have changed sizes for various reasons...generally made smaller. So why not bigger?
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Moderator
 United States
187562 Posts |
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So why not bigger? As the cost of materials goes up, use of those materials goes down. Silver value up? Use less per coin. Copper value up? Use less per coin. Over the long term cost of materials will always go up as a byproduct of inflation, so even if there is a short-term reduction in cost, the size will never go up. |
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Replies: 13 / Views: 1,976 |
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Posted 12/04/2016 07:55 am
