Dollars, halves, quarters and dimes were once made of silver, why not 5 cent pieces? That would also include nickels, for you non - purists That question excludes the 1942 - 1945 which contained .05626 oz of silver
Five cent pieces were made of silver from 1794 to 1873, when they were called half dimes. The nickel five-cent piece was first minted in 1866. There's an economic phenomenon known as "Gresham's Law" which goes something like this: bad money drives out good money. Well, with both nickel and silver five cent pieces, it was understandable for folks to not want to receive the debased nickel coin. Similarly it was also common for folks to hoard the silver coin. Eventually, the government discontinued the silver five-cent piece in 1873.
Didn’t they make some nickels out of wood? Seems I remember my Dad talking about wooden nickels. I guess the termites got them all.
There was another silver coin used in this country as a virtual 5 cent piece even before the half dime. And it was used until 1857. It was known as the half reale - a Spanish colonial coin, and the smallest denomination ( in most cases ) for the reale coinage. The 8 reale was considered a dollar - the 4 reale a half dollar - the 2 reale a quarter - the one reale a dime - and the 1/2 reale a nickel
There are many folk who collect wooden nickles. Typically they are crown size, ~3-4mm thick, with advertising slogans, and are still being produced currently. The first ones were probably advertising tokens good in trade at the issuer's place of business.
This seems like a loser's game. Back in them days a few cents was real money, and the one reale SHOULD have ben worth 12.5 cents, and the 1/2 reale 6.25 cents. By using small coins, you would lose out on 20 cents on the dollar (vs. spending an 8 reale coin and getting the change in US coinage). Those crazy early Americans.
You are quite correct - those are the proper amounts. But coinage of any kind was so scarce, especially the small denominations - people used what they could get. And it should be remembered that coinage from all over the world was used - and it all came in different denominations. So the general and practical use was to convert the various denominations into the closest local denominations and use the coins interchangably. So if one person used a 2 reale as a quarter - the next person did as well. To them - it was just a quarter.
U.S. Mint issued circulating coinage, made of silver, by denomination: 1) Trime 2) Half Dime 3) Dime 4) Twenty-Cent Piece 5) Quarter 6) Half 7) Dollar
