"thinnest US Coins"?

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Author	Replies: 20 / Views: 2,377	Page: of 2

jpsned Pillar of the Community United States 2208 Posts	Posted 05/07/2025 10:39 am Quote: There was a time when the NY Times crossword puzzle clues were carefully researched and vetted. That ship has sailed like the Vasa. Yup, whoever came up with this clue should have researched the history of U. S. coins to make sure there were no other coins thinner than a dime. The NYT is known as a "newspaper of record." Alas, no more. Report this Post to the Staff
Zurie Pillar of the Community United States 5675 Posts	Posted 05/07/2025 10:51 am If you're including more obscure US coins, I think California gold fractionals are even thinner. Report this Post to the Staff
jpsned Pillar of the Community United States 2208 Posts	Posted 05/07/2025 11:05 am Quote: If you're including more obscure US coins, I think California gold fractionals are even thinner. Report this Post to the Staff
jpsned Pillar of the Community United States 2208 Posts	Posted 05/07/2025 11:07 am Quote: US coins do not have legally defined thicknesses. Well, not directly. They do have legally defined compositions, weights and diameters, and the laws of mathematics state that if you know the mass, diameter and density of a cylinder, then the height (thickness) of that cylinder can be directly derived from that, mathematically. Doing the maths for a post-1853 trime, we get: Diameter: 14mm Composition: .900 fine silver (density 10.34 g/cm3) Weight: 0.75 grams This gives us: Volume: 0.07253 cm3 Radius in cm: 0.7 cm Volume = pi * radius^2 * height Height = Volume / (pi * radius^2) Height = 0.04711 cm So the theoretical thickness of a trime is just under 0.5 millimetres thick. That's an average; coins of course are not uniformly thick discs so an actual caliper measurement on an uncirculated well-struck trime is likely going to be higher as the coin will have a distinct edge rim and/or other high points which slightly increase the measured thickness. I like people who know stuff like this. Report this Post to the Staff
jbuck Moderator United States 189121 Posts	Posted 05/07/2025 11:29 am Quote: I like people who know stuff like this. 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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