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"Golden" dollars, pennies, and nickels. It's not that hard, just grab a fistful of change and check it out.

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How many ridges are around the US penny?

There are no ridges on a US Penny or the US Nickel, the edges are smooth.


How many ridges are around edge of a dime?

According to the US Mint, a dime has 118 reeds/ridges.


How many ridges are there around a US quarter?

There are 119 ridges on a U.S. mint quarter. Also called "reeds"


When did they start adding ridges to dimes and quarter coins?

The idea of adding reeding along the rim of coins, to thwart shaving or "clipping" part of the metal, is attributed to Sir Isaac Newton, who was Master of the Royal Mint in Britain from 1699 to 1727. Other techniques had been tried in various countries prior to that time.In the United States, coins have been known to have reeded edges as early as 1795. (There are four specimens of the 1795 Large Cent with reeded edges--one has recently sold for over $1 million).The US Dime and Quarter Dollar have had reeded edges from their inception in 1796.Today, the reeding is purely decorative, as there is no incentive to "clip" cladded coins like quarters and dimes.


Why do quarters and dimes have ridges and pennies and nickels don't?

The ridges on the edges of coins are called "reeding". When coins were made of precious metals like silver and gold, reeds were used to prevent theft by shaving, i.e. using a sharp instrument to remove a tiny bit of metal from the edges of a coin. A shaved coin would very slightly smaller but not enough to be noticed. If a crook shaved enough coins they could make a nice profit selling the scraps. Mints adopted reeded edges so any attempt at shaving would be immediately obvious. Nickels and cents have smooth edges because those denominations were never made of precious metals. When the US switched from silver coinage to copper-nickel clad coins in the 1960s reeded edges were no longer necessary but the Mint decided to continue using them so the new coins were as much like the old ones as possible. However new designs and denominations like the current Presidential dollars don't have to match any previous coins so they're made without reeding. Other countries now use specialized reeding to make it easier for visually-limited people to tell coins apart by touch. For example some denominations of euro coins are similar in size but have very different edges with, for example, wide reeds, narrow reeds, or "interrupted" reeds consisting of alternating ridged and smooth sections.

Related Questions

How many ridges are around the US penny?

There are no ridges on a US Penny or the US Nickel, the edges are smooth.


How many ridges are around edge of a dime?

According to the US Mint, a dime has 118 reeds/ridges.


How many ridges are there around a US quarter?

There are 119 ridges on a U.S. mint quarter. Also called "reeds"


Which of the US coins are milled?

When a coin is milled it means that the coin was made using machines instead of hand made. Milled coins have ridges outlining the coin. The dime and the quarter are milled.


Why are some US coins smooth and others with ridges?

Those ridges date back to when some U.S. coins were made of silver or gold. Without reeding (the ridges), it would be easy for someone to scrape off shavings of the metal to keep, and then the coin wouldn't contain its full value of metal content. Cents and nickels were of such low value and lacking precious metals that reeding was unnecessary.


When did they start adding ridges to dimes and quarter coins?

The idea of adding reeding along the rim of coins, to thwart shaving or "clipping" part of the metal, is attributed to Sir Isaac Newton, who was Master of the Royal Mint in Britain from 1699 to 1727. Other techniques had been tried in various countries prior to that time.In the United States, coins have been known to have reeded edges as early as 1795. (There are four specimens of the 1795 Large Cent with reeded edges--one has recently sold for over $1 million).The US Dime and Quarter Dollar have had reeded edges from their inception in 1796.Today, the reeding is purely decorative, as there is no incentive to "clip" cladded coins like quarters and dimes.


Why do quarters and dimes have ridges and pennies and nickels don't?

The ridges on the edges of coins are called "reeding". When coins were made of precious metals like silver and gold, reeds were used to prevent theft by shaving, i.e. using a sharp instrument to remove a tiny bit of metal from the edges of a coin. A shaved coin would very slightly smaller but not enough to be noticed. If a crook shaved enough coins they could make a nice profit selling the scraps. Mints adopted reeded edges so any attempt at shaving would be immediately obvious. Nickels and cents have smooth edges because those denominations were never made of precious metals. When the US switched from silver coinage to copper-nickel clad coins in the 1960s reeded edges were no longer necessary but the Mint decided to continue using them so the new coins were as much like the old ones as possible. However new designs and denominations like the current Presidential dollars don't have to match any previous coins so they're made without reeding. Other countries now use specialized reeding to make it easier for visually-limited people to tell coins apart by touch. For example some denominations of euro coins are similar in size but have very different edges with, for example, wide reeds, narrow reeds, or "interrupted" reeds consisting of alternating ridged and smooth sections.


How much silver is in 1971 half dollar?

None. The Mint changed the composition to copper-nickel that year. 1964 was the last year that the US Mint produced 90% silver coins, but subsequent coins do contain some silver. Since then, dimes, quarters, and halves are basically a big penny with a silver wash, although they retain the ridges around the rim of the coin. This was originally done to prevent counterfeiters from scraping silver (and gold) from the edges of US coinage. There will be no percentage in that enterprise again unless the price of copper rises high enough to make it worthwhile.


How much silver in half dollar 1971?

None. The Mint changed the composition to copper-nickel that year. 1964 was the last year that the US Mint produced 90% silver coins, but subsequent coins do contain some silver. Since then, dimes, quarters, and halves are basically a big penny with a silver wash, although they retain the ridges around the rim of the coin. This was originally done to prevent counterfeiters from scraping silver (and gold) from the edges of US coinage. There will be no percentage in that enterprise again unless the price of copper rises high enough to make it worthwhile.


Why do nickels not have ridges around the perimeter?

"Ridges", technically called reeding, were originally added to precious-metal coins to prevent crooks from shaving them. That practice involved using a knife or other sharp tool to scrape off a tiny amount of metal from a coin's perimeter. If done carefully it wouldn't be enough to be noticed by most people in ordinary commerce, but it could add up to a lot of money if large numbers of coins were shaved. However if the edge of a coin was reeded any attempt to scrape away its metal would be obvious and merchants wouldn't accept the coins.Because nickels (and cents, too) weren't made of precious metals like gold or silver there was no profit to be made from shaving them so reeded edges weren't needed.Today coins aren't made of gold or silver, but many still have reeded edges. In the US and Canada reeding is used mostly out of tradition for coins that were once made of silver. In other countries that have introduced new coins, special kinds of reeding are added to make it easy for people with visual difficulties to tell the coins apart by touch.


How many ridges does a dime have?

A US dime(10 cents) has 118 ridges to be exact.


What coin has 118 ridges?

A US dime.