Why does some coin have reeded edges and some do not?

LALASD4

Why does some coin have reeded edges and some do not?

atomic

Back in the early days of coinage when the face value of gold and silver coins was the same as the value of their metal content, filing a wee bit of gold or silver off a number of coins resulted in a nice little pile of dust to sell at the government's expense. Mints then learned that gold and silver coins with either reeded or lettered edges make filing obvious. Coins that used to be made out of silver, such as dollars and halves, still retain the reeded edges. No one's going to bother filing a copper or nickle coin so they are not reeded or lettered.
Atomic

Placid

Because they added them to coins with "precious" metal to stop people from shaving small amounts off the coins un noticed.

Dang I type too slow.

aRabidChipmunk

Copied from the U.S. Mint website:



<< <i>Why do some coins have grooves on the edges and why are they there?

The dollar, half-dollar, quarter, and 10-cent coin (dime) denominations were originally produced from precious metals (gold and silver). Reeded edges were eventually incorporated into the design of these denominations to deter counterfeiting and fraudulent use of the coins, for example, filing down the edges in an attempt to recover the precious metals.

The one-cent (penny) and five-cent pieces (nickels) are considered "minor" coins of the United States and have never contained precious metals.

Currently, none of the coins produced for circulation contain precious metals. However, the continued use of reeded edges on current circulating coinage of larger denominations is useful to the visually impaired. For example, the 10-cent (dime) and one-cent coins are similar in size; the reeding of the dime makes it easily identifiable by touch.
>>

LALASD4

Very interesting, thanks.

Peaceman

My precious............

flaminio

Speaking of filing down coins, what's to stop someone from sticking a half in a lathe and filing it down to dollar size? Find a vending machine that takes dollar coins, and you should be able to buy all the snacks you want for half price, right? Aside from the law, there is one other factor that would stop one from doing this... (and there's your quiz).

LALASD4

I got an easier way, the one peso coin is almost the same size as the quarter.

BigAlan

Aside from the law, there is one other factor that would stop one from doing this... (and there's your quiz).


The electromagnetic signature is different and vending machines check.

BAJJERFAN

The weight would be different!! One of the requirements of the golden dollar is that it be the same weight as the SBA dollar.