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Actually, the first five-cent coin in U.S. history was made of silver and was smaller than today's dime.
That's because when coins were first produced by the U.S. Mint in 1793 the U.S. standard coin was the silver dollar, and additional coin denominations were made with a proportionate silver content to the dollar. This, in turn, established the size of each. For example a ten-cent coin, or dime, contained 1/10 the silver found in a dollar.
The five-cent coin (which contained 1/20 the silver found in a dollar) was eventually determined to be too small to handle, and the five-cent coin we know today as a "nickel" was created in 1866. The size of the coin was increased and its metallic content was changed from silver and copper to a combination of copper and nickel |
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mmcall
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The 10 cent coin (dime) was once made of silver. The value of the silver kept it smaller than the 5 cent (nickle, which has very little silver in it). |
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Shell Bullet
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i am asuming the material might be cheaper than the dime |
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Paul K
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From a metal value perspective, the nickle is more valuable than a dime. It cost the taxpayer around 8.5 cents to for the government to produce a nickle and around 3 cents for a dime. |
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anywherebuttexas
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Long ago, our currency was based on precious metals. Pennies and nickels were made of base metals, while dimes, quarters, half dollars, and dollars were made of silver. $5, $10, and $20 coins were gold. The size of the coin reflected the value of the metal it was made of.
After years of struggle, US money was finally taken off the gold standard in 1971. All of our coins are currently made of base metals, but retain their traditional sizes to allow them to continue functioning with vending machines. This requirement makes it unlikely that the size of our coins will change in the future. |
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kurticus1024
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I have often wondered about that too |
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airbob61@verizon.net
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Originally, the dime was minted from a silver alloy. It was smaller than the nickel alloy 5 cent coin because to mint it larger would mean that the silver content would be worth more than .10 cents. |
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glassnegman
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Hello =)
Historically, 5 cent coins, 1 cent coins were made of "semi-precious" metals, while 10 cent coins were made of "precious metal" -- silver.
After the transition of all coins to semi-precious metals, the size did not change, to avoid confusion (We Americans are easily confused), and thus we have the small "dime" and the large "nickel"....
There was a time in American History, when there were silver 5 cent coins (not including WWII), and they were very small.
Namaste, and Happy New Year,
--Tom |
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Tneciter
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The 5 cent coin is made of nickel, which is less expensive than silver, which composes most of today's dimes. The new dimes are made of copper and silver....KECK |
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valley of the winding waters
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Dimes were once made of silver. 10 cents worth of silver. Nickles came around and were not made of silver. so they could be made bigger. |
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azriel
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because the stuff in the nickel has lesser value than the dime |
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hey!
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It is for the blind to distinguish between the two. |
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Ice
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Because we can get away with that, damn it! Who's going to stop us? No, just kidding. You make a legitimate point. The dime logically should be bigger than the nickel. |
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nella =)
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because it is. but it's wrong!! =] |
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