This is not a random design element, but an ingenious invention from the past to protect against clever thieves. This technological measure has fortunately survived to this day.
What are the uses of serrated edges on coins? Until the middle of the 20th century, the denomination of many coins was literally the value of the metal from which they were minted. For example, the first American dollars, issued in 1794, were composed of almost 90 percent silver. The nominal value of the material has given rise to a popular way for fraudsters to make money — coin cutting.
The fraudsters carefully cut a thin layer of metal around the entire perimeter of the coin. If this is done carefully enough, the size and weight are visually almost unchanged. The criminal could go to the market and pay with this coin, as if nothing had happened, and melt down and sell the collected silver or gold bars.
To stop this imperceptible theft, they began to apply a special relief on the edges, the so-called toothed rim. The rim is actually the side edge of the coin. The word itself is of German origin, derived from Gurt, which translates as “belt” and “strap.” The idea turned out to be incredibly effective, because if the serrated edge was damaged or smoothly cut, any merchant would immediately notice the fraud.
Among other things, the famous physicist Isaac Newton, after becoming the director of the Royal Mint of Great Britain in 1696, actively introduced this method to combat counterfeiters, although similar technologies had been used in Europe since the 16th century.
Why Some Coins Have Smooth Edges
Coin Production at the U.S. Mint If ridges are so useful, the logical question arises as to why some coins do not have them. For example, American cents and nickels, as well as many small coins in other countries, including Europe, traditionally have completely smooth edges. That’s what the authors of the Mental Floss portal write about.
The answer lies in pure economics. Small-denomination coins were originally minted from cheap metals, so there was no point in bothering with their minting. The cost of lost time and the risk of being found significantly increased the price of the extracted copper scraps. Since the potential profit tended to zero, it was not necessary to protect these coins with complex relief.
Why There Are Still Edges on Coins Today
Workers at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, where the process of stamping and applying embossed edges to coins was once a laborious manual labor. By the middle of the 20th century, the world was facing a shortage of silver, and governments began to abandon the obligation to issue precious metal currency. In the United States, this was officially established by the Coinage Act of 1965, which gradually reduced the silver content of circulating money to zero. The threat of counterfeiting was finally a thing of the past, but the ribbed edges were retained.
The minting process is carried out in such a way that the metal billet is struck with a special tool – a stamp, and it is held by the so-called stamped ring. It is he who forms the edge. When the mints switched to cheap alloys, the authorities decided not to spend budget funds on new machines and dies. The old equipment continued to work, applying the no longer necessary protective motif to the copper-nickel blanks.
Later, this production method became the standard, so that the old method acquired a new social function. Thanks to the different texture of the edges of the coin with a built-in eye, it is much easier to recognize the denomination of the coins by touch, without having to mix up the small coins among themselves. 49428
How many grooves are there on the edges of coins
The lines on the edges of coins are not just there and were invented a long time ago. If you collect a handful of small coins and look carefully, you will notice that the number and width of the grooves on the coins vary. Historically, this parameter was not regulated by law, so each mint had its own internal specifications.
In the 19th century, this led to noticeable visual differences. For example, the ten-cent coins from the now-closed mint in Cape Town had only 89 fairly wide grooves. And the Philadelphia factory over the years has produced similar coins with 113 thin and densely spaced grooves.
Today, production is standardized. The official requirements for the number of grooves on modern American coins are as follows:
Dime — 118 grooves; Quarter — 119 grooves; Half dollar — exactly 150 grooves;
What is the position of the euro in Europe:
1 cent – Very small and light coin. The edge is smooth. 2 cents – Smooth edge with a depression in the middle that is found all around. 5 cents – Larger than the 10 cents, the edge is completely smooth. 10 cents – Smaller than the 5 cents, the edge is serrated all around. 20 cents – Medium in size, has a unique edge in the shape of the so-called “Spanish flower”. It is smooth with 7 indentations, many of which are easy to feel. 50 cents – Larger than 1 euro. The edge has coarse serrations all around. 1 euro – Smaller than 50 cents. The edge is interrupted. It has finely serrated areas alternating with smooth ones. This makes it much easier to recognize. 2 euros – The largest and heaviest coin. The edge is serrated with finely engraved characters.
Illustrative photo: pexels-eleonora-vokueva-2161345723-37416563
