Why is dime smallest coin

Things get even more confusing when you consider the dime. Worth ten cents, the dime is not ten times bigger than the penny. In fact, it's actually smaller! What kind of sense does that make? Why in the world would the dime be smaller than the penny if it's worth ten times as much? To find out, we have to take a look back in time to learn more about how our modern coinage developed over time. When coins were first established , the basic unit was the silver dollar, which was made with actual silver worth approximately one dollar.

Over time, other coins were created in smaller units, including half-dollars, quarters, and dimes. Each of these new coins was created so that it would contain the correct amount of silver relative to the dollar coin. Thus, the dime had to be rather small, since it only had one-tenth the amount of silver that the dollar coin had.

Eventually , other coins, such as nickels and pennies, were needed to make transactions easier. However, the dime was already so small that it made designing these new coins difficult. After all, could you imagine a nickel half the size of a dime? Worse yet, how would you ever keep track of pennies that were one-tenth the size of a dime?

Fortunately , as these new coins were being developed, the country was moving away from using actual precious metals in coins. Like most modern coins, the new coins were fashioned out of various non-precious metals, including copper, zinc , and nickel. As far as size is concerned, the new coins were designed to be different from other coins already in existence. Such a design would allow them to be recognized easily.

Designers did a fine job, since it's easy to distinguish pennies and nickels from dimes and quarters! Be sure to check out the following activities with a friend or family member:. That's cool, Cena! We're glad this Wonder was helpful! Great question, Wonder Friend! Check out these money-related Wonders We also encourage you to keep researching at your library and online!

Thank you for sharing what you found most interesting, Sanjana! The video used a technique called "stop animation. That might be a fun project! Find plastic money play money and glue them on to a pair of your shoes. Have fun! Great thinking, Ms. Welcome, Jeff! Thanks for sharing your connection to this Wonder! Do you collect money? Use the search feature to find other Wonders related to money! Hey, Taylor!

That's always the goal! Thanks for sharing your thoughts about this Wonder question, TH! Hi, Jessica! It's always fun to learn about the history of things we use everyday! We're glad you liked this Wonder! Hi, Helios! We think you should both keep researching to find out! Welcome, Megan! We're glad you asked! Every weekday there is a new Wonder of the Day curious question featured! Also, there are more than 1, already archived on the site! Hi, Zoe! Sometimes the Wonder only sparks our curiosity to keep researching!

Hi, Ryan! That's a good theory! Thanks for sharing your prediction. We're glad you learned something new! Thanks for the suggestion, Lana! We encourage you to use the search box near the top of the page to find Wonders about topics you're interested in. Also, submit your Wonder ideas to the Wonder Bank!

We are undergoing some spring clearing site maintenance and need to temporarily disable the commenting feature. Thanks for your patience. Drag a word to its definition. You have answered 0 of 3 questions correctly and your score is:. Want to add a little wonder to your website? Help spread the wonder of families learning together. We sent you SMS, for complete subscription please reply. Follow Twitter Instagram Facebook. Why are dimes smaller than pennies? What material were the first coins made of?

What materials are used to make today's coins? Wonder What's Next? Be sure to check out the following activities with a friend or family member: Have you ever spent much time examining the coins we use today? Ask a friend or family member to help you locate several examples of all the coins we commonly use today, including pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters.

If you can find a dollar coin, too, that's great! In the early days of the country the precious metal content of U. The U. Half dimes, dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars were struck in.

Practical considerations demanded a low value token coinage in order to make change. The first copper cents were as almost as large as current day half dollars. This was an attempt to make that coin intrinsic one cent worth of copper. It eventually became impractical to use such a coin in everyday transactions and that coin was tokenized and reduced by to the size we see the cent today. Token coinage was not directly redeemable for precious metal coins and therefore not legal tender.

For example, a 19th century bank might refuse to change 25 one cent coins into a silver quarter. The copper-nickel 5 cent was introduced as a token coinage in as was made larger for practical reasons. And, clothing in the western world has actually included pockets since the Middle Ages. Men's pockets were in their waistcoats and coats; women's pockets were two pouches on a string that tied around the waist under the skirt, which was accessible through slits in the sides of the skirt.

I've never done a focused study, but my immediate answer is "No. Rather, natural motifs and line designs are common on colonial currency, while federal era notes of credit feature mostly text and sometimes the eagle. What happened to the British currency kept after the Revolution? Did colonials-turned-Americans manage to exchange their money for the new currency very easily? After the Revolution, Americans were still using all kinds of existing currency and coins, both English and European, because in the decades immediately following the war it was the only money available.

There was never a universal exchange date. American coins continued to be supplemented by English and European money well into the 19th century and weren't banned until Actually, non-American money was probably preferred by many people in the lateth and earlyth centuries because its value was well-established.

FYI, the first U. Mint started coinage in The U. Treasury began printing currency in the early s. Not sure if this gets asked often, but why did they feel the need to build a new building after the first one failed? The first Bank of the U. In , the Second Bank of the U. President Andrew Jackson vetoed the Bank's charter in , so the Bank never made it through its charter period -- and a new building was commissioned.

The Second Bank of the U. Architecturally, both banks have interesting features. The First Bank building's 3rd Street side features a marble portico, the columned section with steps. It was the first on a public building in America. It also features a carving of the American eagle in the portico's triangular pediment -- the first architectural representation of the American bald eagle.

The Second Bank building has an unusual theft-deterrent aspect: inside the building's foundation walls there are randomly spaced iron balls about the size of an apple.