Why is a dime "one dime" instead of "ten cents"?

windwhispersintrees

Can anyone explain why a dime is marked "one dime" instead of "ten cents"?

Penny is marked "one cent"
Nickel is marked "five cents"
Dime is marked "one dime"
Quarter is marked "quarter dollar"...that I understand, since it's a lot less letters to fit on a coin than "twenty-five cents".

Thanks.

flaminio

The coinage act of 1792 specified five units: mill, cent, dime, dollar, and eagle. 10 mills = 1 cent, 10 cents = 1 dime, and so on. (The dime was originally called a "disme", but somewhere along the line the s was dropped.)

What's more interesting is that, besides the 1792 pattern dismes, the word "dime" didn't actually appear on the dimes until 1837. Issues before then either had no denomination (you had to guess it from the size of the coin), or said "10 C".

-Bob

windwhispersintrees

Thank you.

lordmarcovan

The original spelling of "dime" was disme, which I believe was French in origin, meaning "one tenth".

oreville

I believe the s was dropped when a certain Vice President John Adams made sure that Thomas Jefferson was shipped overseas (to France) to keep his fascination with French culture away from the United States and from his President, George Washington.

Lordmarcovan: Shake that family tree for more information!

It is said many times that John Qunicy Adams was a prolific coin collector.

FrattLaw

A "ten-cent bag" just didn't sound right?

As for John Adams, I'm currently reading the McCullough bio on him (strongly recommended), and it's a shame he never got on a coin or currency, at lease as far as I'm aware.

He should be given his due respect and placed on American coinage. Adams for the new dollar coin! We already had one ugly, half bald guy <----------- see my icon, I think it's time for another.

Enough with the women on the dollar! Give me ugly bald guys!

What do you think, could we start a movement here!

Michael


MW Fattorosi Collection