Why didn't the twenty cent piece have a reeded edge?
Smittys
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Smittys
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Smittys
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To distinguish it from a quarter.
The Sec of Treasury felt that a plain edge was sufficient to distinguish the 20-cent from 25-cent. Director Linderman wanted the two coins to be very different in design and dimensions, but was overruled by others - A fine modern example is the Anthony dollar.
Would have cost an extra $0.05 to add reeds??
It was one of the design elements to distinguish it from the quarter dollar ... just like the different reverse and the raised LIBERTY on the obverse shield. The raised LIBERTY and lack of reeds were also supposed to help the blind distinguish between the two denominations.
I did an experiment with some college students in a numismatics course I taught. I had them close their eyes and handle a twenty-cent piece and twenty-cent piece with rim cuts ("artificial reeds") and each student chose the coin with artificial reeds as a quarter. So the idea that reeds can help distinguish the two denominations has merit. It's not very practical ... but it works.
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
When I was a YN, a dealer (Stan Furman sp?) showed me a 20c piece and convinced me it was a mint error as it had no edge reeding.
The same reason the Sac golden dollar doesn't yet the Susan dollar does.
I bought a very original XF45 20c piece from a prominent local dealer back in the 1970's. When I got it home I took it out of the 2X2 and noticed it had "reeding." Unfortunately, the scratched in kind though...though pretty even and well done....lol. Needless to say, it was returned to the dealer for a full refund. The pundits would likely say I didn't deserve a refund because I removed the coin from its original holder.
Interesting question.
I always thought that reeding was supposed to prevent people from shaving precious metals (gold or silver) from the edges of the coins - hence lowering their value and building a stash of shavings. These days it doesn't mean much on circulating coins.
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Those were the real old days when coins had an intrinsic value and the practice was more common. For example, I've never seen a 20th century coin shaved; however, they must exist.
They likely continue the reeding out of tradition.
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The same reason popcycle sticks are still made out of wood.