US money has been the same size for years. Only thing I thought was odd...is that the dime is smaller than the penny but worth more. Why they never made a large dime, I will never know. Take a look. The 2 francs coin is much bigger than the 100 francs coin, a coin worth 50 times it's value. Look at the 5 centimes coin, it's bigger than the 50 centimes, and worth 10 times less.
When the dime was first introduced, I believe its size was decided upon its intrinsic value of 10¢. the cent had an intrinsic value of 1¢, and so forward.
Most sizes were based off the coin's compositional value. For example, there was a greater value of metal in a smaller size in a silver dime, compared with the copper in a cent. US coins probably stayed the same size after 1964 in order to not confuse the public, and so that we did not have to accommodate technology, etc., with the newly introduced coin sizes. Just my two cents... -Mike
American money is confusing. Instead of having regular face values (10 cents, 25 cents, etc.) on your coins, you people use words and hardly ever digits, have odd sizes - nickel, dime, and let's not even think of the half. Now you may start explaining why all this makes perfect sense because once upon a time the dime (which may of course not be called a 10 cent coin) was a silver piece, and so on. And the people who actually use those coins every day do not really find them confusing. Guess what, about the same applies here. Christian
Let's see... 1919 5 Centimes : France WW1 era coin 1920s 50 Centimes & 2 Franc : France Commerce Industrie (Chamber of Commerce) coins 1950s 10 & 100 Franc : Post WW2 era coins If you take the coins in the context of history and economics, the coins make more sense (sizes & materials). Then again, as usual, you posit statements (or sometimes loaded questions) without including all of the relevant details.
Slight correction - it is determined by the special interest groups like Jarden Zinc that have the politicians in their salary schemes. Not to mention that Crane and Company has the hold on paper production for the US Dollar largely because they happened to be based in Massachusetts - home state of now deceased Senator Ted Kennedy.
The nouveau franc (1959-2001) 10 and 20 centimes pieces will even more confusing, hehe. "Wait, they have precisely the same size and composition as those franc coins from the 1950s, and yet they say centimes!" As for the Chambres de Commerce issues, well, they were notgeld or monnaie de nécessité issues (obviously by the chambers of commerce) that the government tolerated mostly because of the lack of coins at that time. The sizes (diameter) of those pieces were precisely the same as the regular 50c, 1F and 2F coins minted until 1920 - except that instead of silver they now were brass (or so) pieces. Christian
speaking of french coins, had a buck in my paypal balance so i got this recenlty... i already had a 5 and 25 centimes of the type, now i'll have to get the 20 so i have a nice run in those 4 slots in my album. i have a vichy france 20 but it just doesn't want to fit there. however, there is a BIG price jump for the 20.
To make the french money even more confusing : After the currencyreform of 1960, meny frenchman continued to calculate in " old francs ", calling the reintroduced centime a franc. "The price of this item is 5000 francs " thereby could both mean 5000 New francs or 50 new francs equaling 5000 old francs, depending on if the person who spoke was elderly or not, or ,if elderly , still was calculating in prereform- money.
