8-Coins have ridges to protect against counterfeiting
I know most of you don’t like to use coins when buying things, or just use it when purchasing items from vending machines, but in fact coins are such an interesting currency with a fascinating history.
Those ridges on the edge of the coin? Well, they have a purpose.
Before 1965 in the times of Colonial America, those ridges on the edge of the coin were created to prevent counterfeiting.
Back then there were these counterfeiters that would shave the edges off of coins (the coins were made of silver and gold), a ten dollar piece was made with ten dollar worth of gold.
And because there were always people who wanted to cheat others to make extra money they would shave the edges of the coins and collect the metal.
Today, the ridges remain as a form of “Braille” and we count 119 grooves on the edge of a quarter.
