Why Do Dimes Have Ridges?
The United States passed the Coinage Act in 1792 which established the US Mint. According to History.com:
“That same act of legislation also specified that $10, $5 and $2.50 coins (known as eagles, half-eagles and quarter-eagles) were to be made of their face value in gold, while dollar, half-dollar, quarter-dollar, dime and half-dime coins were to be made of their value in silver. (Cent and half-cent coins were made of cheaper copper.) But a problem soon arose, after would-be criminals saw they could make a good profit by filing shavings from the sides of gold and silver coins and selling the precious metal. Before the 18th-century was out, the U.S. Mint began adding ridges to the coins’ edges, a process called “reeding,” in order to to make it impossible to shave them down without the result being obvious. As a side benefit, the reeded edges also made coin design more intricate and counterfeiting more difficult.”
I hope that you are having a wonderful winter break! I will not post again on this page until January 11th.
Be safe! See you then!
