Something else to consider. The silver half dime was not considered to be a minor coin. It was a silver coin just like the dime, quarter etc. The two coins also have different official names Half dime (originally until 1837 half disme) and five cent piece 1857, it was used to refer to the new coppernickel cents. They were known by the slang term nicks or nickels. Later the name was used for the nickel three cent piece and finally for the five cent piece. The US makes half dollars, Canada makes fifty cent pieces and those are the official names for the cois in each respective country.
