It's not the size of the coin, it's how you spend it

9 posts
RKibel
Joined: 1 Sep 2013
Posts: 62
Posted: 5 Oct 2013, 14:29 #
Posted: #
I've noticed some countries make big coins and some make small coins and I'm curious why they would do that. There are some low denomination coins that are the size of a house and some high denomination coins that are smaller than a shirt button.

Is there a cultural reason why they would do that?
If people drove the way they walk, we'd all be dead.
glorkar
Joined: 23 Mar 2013
Posts: 1028
Posted: 5 Oct 2013, 15:57 #
Posted: #
I imagine it started out as a metal type to denomination ratio.  1 cent worth of copper gets you a pretty big coin.  10 cents of silver really isn't that big.  Probably just kept the sizes even after the metal changed.
"What we are is not as important as what we aren't"
ZacUK Numista team
Joined: 3 Jan 2011
Posts: 16691
Posted: 5 Oct 2013, 16:18 #
Posted: #
  Some coins were in relation to the weight ...
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces2817.html

 which, for example, is 1 Centimo, but also on it says Un Gramo which is not the currency but the weight (One Gram). Then the 2 Centimo and 5 Centimo are proportionate to that.  :)

 In the UK the 2p (7.12g) is twice the weight of the 1p (3.56g), and the 10p (6.50g) is twice the weight of the 5p (3.25g) - so some coins are in relation to others.
Token collector [1600-1899] with some coins
sujit_kumar Catalogue referee
Joined: 11 Jan 2013
Posts: 2360
Posted: 5 Oct 2013, 17:13 #
Posted: #
The US Dime is Half the weight of the Nickel and double the value. Not sure why  :o
“A man without a hobby is only half alive.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
ZuluRaptorSpace
Joined: 3 Jun 2013
Posts: 1628
Posted: 5 Oct 2013, 18:47 #
Posted: #
A "large indian head" US gold dollar is smaller than a dime.
scceda
Joined: 25 Sep 2011
Posts: 564
Posted: 5 Oct 2013, 18:57 #
Posted: #
Quote: sujit_kumarThe US Dime is Half the weight of the Nickel and double the value. Not sure why  :o
The dime used to be a silver coin before 1965. The government simply kept the same specifications for a lousy copper-nickel "coin" thereafter.
sujit_kumar Catalogue referee
Joined: 11 Jan 2013
Posts: 2360
Posted: 5 Oct 2013, 21:21 #
Posted: #
Yeah thats right. All they did was change the composition of the dime
“A man without a hobby is only half alive.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
KennyG
Joined: 25 Apr 2010
Posts: 5285
Posted: 6 Oct 2013, 03:09 #
Posted: #
The interesting part is that the coins of different currencies all had perfect exchange rates with each other. British crowns were worth the same as Spanish dollars and German thalers and Japanese yen, and change. :)
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neilithic
Closed account
Posted: 6 Oct 2013, 21:40 #
Posted: #
New Zealand got rid of their 1 and 2 cent coin when the value of the copper outstripped the value of the coin.  Some people were drilling holed in 2c coins to use for washers because it was cheaper than buying actual washers.  Then recently (in 2006) the size of the coins was reduced and the 5c coin were removed from circulation for a similar reason.  The value of the metal was worth more than the coin.
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