Why does the States not have the facial value on their coins?

14 posts

» Quick access to the last post

Most other countries have the cent value on their coins.  The US has it on the 1 cent and 5 cent coins.  But then the 10 cent coin has "dime" the 25 cent coin has "quarter dollar" and the 50 cent coin has "half dollar" printed on them instead.  

Why did they chose to go that way rather than printing the cent amount like most other countries, like their neighbours Canada for instance


Anyone know the background of this?  Also, if they were going this way, why do they not put "one nickel" on the 5 cent coins?
It's a tradition that goes back to the first US coins in the 1790s.
Five cent coins used to known as half dimes, so there is hope for reform.
A dime comes from the French word decime which means 'one tenth', so the word dime makes perfect sense in a decimal system. Centime means one hundredth, and millieme one thousandth. Decimes and decimos were not uncommon denominations in the 19th century.

I guess the quarter is more from the habit of the pre-decimal system. It's a quicker way to say twenty five :-)
Years of habit... basically the same reason most pre-decimal coins from the UK and Commonwealth don't have numeric values and include values like "farthing", "florin", and "half crown".
Quote: CeruleanIt's a tradition that goes back to the first US coins in the 1790s.
Five cent coins used to known as half dimes, so there is hope for reform.
        " Nickel" is the metal not the value. Back when the value of the coin was in the metal the composition of the 5 cent coin was almost pure nickel. Hence the nickname "nickel"
If you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything
Quote: crruisercharlie" Nickel" is the metal not the value. Back when the value of the coin was in the metal the composition of the 5 cent coin was almost pure nickel. Hence the nickname "nickel"
Yeah I understand that.  I just thought since everyone calls it a nickel, that they would print "one nickel" on it, same as printing "dime" on the 10 cent coin.
I suppose it's all to do with heritage. The US is still a tele tablet new country so they should hold onto their oldest stuff !
That made me laugh, Mark!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_date_of_formation#Sortable_list
What ?  A lot of those countries are newer because they were colonies for longer. What I meant was the US hasn't been around for as long as other "big" countries like the UK (and its pre-union constituencies)
and France, Spain & Portugal for instance. Why not hold on to one's heritage anyway, although the US does have many as it was pretty much a colonist and immigrant country in its early years, hence the fact it's such a melting pot !
The first coins to be called nickels in the US were the flying eagle and early indian head small cents. The were a copper nickel issue and were referred to as nickels...this is a story ive often heard from coin club old timers...
Library Media Specialist, columnist, collector, and gardener...
I read a very interesting article on this subject many years ago which explored the different developments of two countries sharing the same land mass and primary language which was a real eye opener. It's amazing how much you don't know you don't know. It combined a timeline type evolution with interesting specifics for each series.

The basic premise of the author's article was that the USA started out very much influenced by all things French with whom they had a shared bond of liberty. Example - Ben Franklin and Thomas Paine had very close ties to the revolutionary government and it is apparent that everything from the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Bill of Rights all have their roots in and show influence of French Republicanism. This was reflected in the first attempts to produce a stable and widely accepted currency which again owes more to France than England.

Meanwhile in Canada things were much more pro British and early Canadian coins were very recognizably English.

It gets interesting as the author plots a gradual transition to a more Anglo-centric culture in the USA while Canada turned decidedly French. Of course this is a gross over simplification and doesn't take into account the great Spanish influence of the American Southwest and Florida which is absent from the rest of the continent, but it was a very thought provoking idea.
Non illegitimis carborundum est.  Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!  
I am sorry but I am at a loss here. The US had facial [numeral] values on coins of the 1800's. In fact our first nickel, the union shield 1866-1883 had 5 cents on it. The Liberty cap dime 1815-1837 had 10 C. on it'. The Liberty cap quarter 1815-1838 had 25 C. The capped bust half dollar 1807-1837 had 50 C. and the gold dollars from 1849-1889 had 1 dollar on them. The 2 1/2 dollar had 2 1/2 D, even the odd US 3 dollar gold coin had a 3 on it, 1854-1889. And so on
Now modern coins only the presidential and native American series have a dollar sign and a 1 on them. Am I missing something here? Yes I know most US coins spell out the value. But not all.
It is, what it is, or is it.
I am not 100% sure. But there are more types of US dollars coin with the number 1 on it than spelled out.
It is, what it is, or is it.
When coins are authorized by the U.S. Congress (by Law), each detail is described in the law. The law describes what each coin shall have on its face and reverse and how it will be stated. This is how it starts out:

Shown Here:
Introduced in Senate (04/16/2015)
United States Coast Guard Commemorative Coin Act
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue in commemoration of the United States Coast Guard: (1) $5 gold coins, (2) $1 silver coins, and (3) half-dollar cladcoins.
Requires the design of such coins to be emblematic of the traditions, history, and heritage of the Coast Guard, and its role in securing our nation since 1790.
Prescribes design requirements.
Restricts the issuance of such coins to the one-year period beginning on January 1, 2018.
Prescribes the sale price of the coins and coin surcharges. Requires such surcharges to be paid by the Secretary to the National Coast Guard Museum Association to help finance the design and construction of the National Coast Guard Museum.
Directs the Secretary to ensure that minting and issuing coins under this Act will not result in any net cost to the federal government.


As these bills get approved the details of the coin are worked out. There are laws requiring certain items to be on each coin: the date, mintmark, value, "In God We Trust", and "E Pluribus Unum."

In fact, any changes to U.S. coinage have to be approved by Congress.

So, if you want to know why U.S. coinage is the way it is, read the Public Laws having to do with United States coinage.
dabarre

» Forum policy

Used time zone is UTC+1:00.
Current time is 15:34.