On Wed, Jul 02, 2003 at 03:17:07PM +0100, Iain Tatch wrote: > Pick up a handful of Merkin change and you get things that say "Nickel", > "Dime", "Quarter" with no other clue as to their monetary value. For those > of us not brought up in the USA, even if you're aware that one's 5c and > the other 10c, there's no obvious way to get from the names nickel and > dime to their monetary values. >
The quarter says "quarter dollar", which is no more slangy or less accurate than "25 cents". The nickle says very plainly just under the picture of Monticello "five cents" and nowhere on it does the word "nickle" appear. The dime says "one dime" and nowhere gives its value in cents. Of course those of you up on your middle english will know that "dime" means one tenth, and therefore isn't really a cutesy name. Hey, I don't have a Maine quarter yet. -- mike
