Dimes, nickels and quarters
The dime is a coin 10 cent, one tenth of a United States dollar, labeled formally as “one dime”. The denomination was first authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792. The dime is the smallest in diameter and is the thinnest of all U.S. coins currently minted for circulation. The term dime comes from old French “disme”, meaning, “tithe” or “tenth part”, from the Latin decimal.
From 1796 to 1837, dimes were composed of 89.24 percent silver and 10.76 percent copper, the value of which required the coins to be very small to prevent their intrinsic value being worth more than face value. The composition was altered slightly in 1837 with the introduction of the Seated Liberty dime; the silver content was increased to 90 percent, while the copper content was reduced to 10 percent. To maintain the intrinsic value of the new dime, its diameter was reduced from 18.8 millimeters (0.740 inch) to its current figure of 17.9 millimeters (0.705 inch).
The (United States) nickel is a five-cent coin, representing a unit of currency equaling five hundredths of one United States dollar. A later-produced Canadian nickel five-cent coin was also called by the same name. The nickel’s design since 1938 has featured a portrait of Thomas Jefferson on the obverse. From 1938 to 2003, Monticello was featured on the reverse. For 2004 and 2005, nickels featured new designs to commemorate the bicentennials of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition; these new designs were called the Westward Journey nickel series. In 2006, Monticello returned to the reverse, while a new image of Jefferson facing forward was featured on the obverse.
Nickels have always had a value of one cent per gram. They were designed as 5 grams in the metric units when they were introduced in 1866, shortly before the Metric Act of 1866 declared the metric system to be legal for use in the United States. All nickels from that date to the present except for the famous “war nickels” are made of the same metal, an alloy of 75% copper and 25% nickel. “War nickels” were made of 35% silver, 56% copper, and 9% manganese because nickel was needed for the war effort. These coins are distinguished by the extra large mintmark over the dome of Monticello. They have been worth up to 90¢ for their silver content. In August 2009, the value of the metal in the standard nickel was about 5 cents, due to the rising costs of copper and nickel.
A quarter dollar, commonly shortened to quarter, is a coin worth ¼ of a United States dollar, or 25 cents. The quarter has been produced since 1796. The current clad version is two layers of cupronickel (75% Copper, 25% Nickel) on a core of pure copper giving a total composition of 8.33% Ni with the remainder Cu, weighs 5.670 grams, and diameter 0.955 inches width 1.75 millimeters (0.069 in) with a receded edge. Owing to the introduction of the clad quarter in 1965.