How would you explain a US dime (coin) to a foreign visitor

[BadPinkTink]

There are far more coins in Britain:
1p
2p
50
10p
20p
50p
1 pound
2 pounds

and the same in Europe
€2
€1
50 cents
20 cents
10 cents
5 cents
2 cents
1 cent

 

[mnrose]

This thread actually reminds me of one of my later father's favorite stories to tell. From the time he was a young lad (about 4 or 5) he had owned an old record player ....the kind that played "tubes" rather than flat disks. And, it operated by being "wound up" (not plugged in). The fidelity was horrible, but it is something of an antiquity and people find it interesting.

In any event, he purchased it at a farm auction near his home. The bid was 10 cents. My father, being a young lad enamored with the record player, dug into his pocket and found a nickel. Well, everyone knows a nickel is BIGGER than a dime, so he bid a nickel. The auctioneer and the other bidder all thought it was so cute that they let my dad buy it for "bigger" bid. :-D

 

[mnrose]

This thread actually reminds me of one of my late father's favorite stories to tell. From the time he was a young lad (about 4 or 5) he had owned an old record player ....the kind that played "tubes" rather than flat disks. And, it operated by being "wound up" (not plugged in). The fidelity was horrible, but it is something of an antiquity and people find it interesting.

In any event, he purchased it at a farm auction near his home. The bid was 10 cents. My father, being a young lad enamored with the record player, dug into his pocket and found a nickel. Well, everyone knows a nickel is BIGGER than a dime, so he bid a nickel. The auctioneer and the other bidder all thought it was so cute that they let my dad buy it for "bigger" bid. :-D

 

[TLSnell1981]

The paper money is confusing for Europeans too, as American bills are all the same size and colour, just the numbers change. In Europe each number has a different colour and size

My aunt was blind and paper money was always difficult. I have never understood, why it's all the same size. At least, coins are different

 

[bcla]

This thread actually reminds me of one of my late father's favorite stories to tell. From the time he was a young lad (about 4 or 5) he had owned an old record player ....the kind that played "tubes" rather than flat disks. And, it operated by being "wound up" (not plugged in). The fidelity was horrible, but it is something of an antiquity and people find it interesting.

Sounds like an Edison cylinder phonograph or something similar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonograph_cylinder

 

[Unas]

its taken me 6 years to figure out American currency! In Europe we dont have names like nickel , dime quarter, we just call them 5 cent and 10 cent and we don't have quarters.

The American 5 and 10 cents (nickles and dimes) always confuse me as the 5 cent is bigger than the 10 cent, which is the opposite to what it is in Europe.

If you want to explain American coins to foreigners , this is how I try to remember

1 dollar ($1) = 100 cents
dollars are usually paper bills but can also be coins

quarters = 25 cents-large silver coin
dime = 10 cents -small coin
nickle = 5 cents- medium coin

The paper money is confusing for Europeans too, as American bills are all the same size and colour, just the numbers change. In Europe each number has a different colour and size

And if someone told you that a shave and a haircut cost "two bits," what would you hand over?

 

[bcla]

And if someone told you that a shave and a haircut cost "two bits," what would you hand over?

Well - the British (don't know about the Irish) used the term "bit" to refer to small denomination coins.

I heard somewhere that "two bits" refers to breaking up a Spanish dollar, which was very popular (some sources say legal currency) in the early years of the United States. It was also known as a "piece of eight" which was worth 8 Spanish reales. So two bits would be one quarter of a whole coin.

 

[NHdisneylover]

We have had that conversation many times. it generally goes something like this "yeah, we don't make it easy on foreign visitors do we? It'S worth ten cents" No history lesson needed or, in our experience, wanted.

The American 5 and 10 cents (nickles and dimes) always confuse me as the 5 cent is bigger than the 10 cent, which is the opposite to what it is in Europe.

Actually a 5 euro cent piece IS bigger than a 10 euro cent piece---not sure why you think it is the opposite of how it is in the US? There is less of a size difference than there is between a US nickle and dime, but in both cases the coin with the smaller value is larger.

 

[EMAW_KSU]

Well, since it says "one dime" on it, I'd explain it as 1/10 of a dollar. What more would they need to know?

I would not think anything.

 

[littlejimmy]

its taken me 6 years to figure out American currency! In Europe we dont have names like nickel , dime quarter, we just call them 5 cent and 10 cent and we don't have quarters.

The American 5 and 10 cents (nickles and dimes) always confuse me as the 5 cent is bigger than the 10 cent, which is the opposite to what it is in Europe.

If you want to explain American coins to foreigners , this is how I try to remember

1 dollar ($1) = 100 cents
dollars are usually paper bills but can also be coins

quarters = 25 cents-large silver coin
dime = 10 cents -small coin
nickle = 5 cents- medium coin

The paper money is confusing for Europeans too, as American bills are all the same size and colour, just the numbers change. In Europe each number has a different colour and size

no offense, but if it has taken you 6 years to figure out those 3 coins and one paper bill, maybe you shouldn't be travelling.

 

[pampam]

Technically, in Canada we do not have a nickle, dime or quarter. We have a five cent piece, ten cent piece, twenty five cent piece, dollar and two dollar pieces. We've picked up the slang from the U.S. , calling them nickles, dimes etc. but those are not the legal tender terms. We call our $1.00 a loonie, because it has a loon on it, but that is not it's proper name. A Toonie is our nickname for a two dollar piece.

Yes, our paper currency is now plastic. It also has a form of braille on it, for sight impaired. A $5.00 bill has a imprint of 6 small dots in the left upper corner. The $10.00 bill is imprinted with the same dots, and another set of dots about 1/2 inch to the right , the $20.00 bill has the same as the $10.00 plus another set of dots 1/2" to the right again. The $50.00 bill has an aditional set of dots 1/2" again to the right, and the $100.00 bill has the same 2 sets of dots spaced about 2 1/2 " apart, again starting from the left upper corner.

 

[Geoff_M]

I'd use the difinition of the word:

The word "dime" comes from the French word "dîme", meaning "tithe" or "tenth part", from the Latin decima [pars].

 

[mnrose]

Sounds like an Edison cylinder phonograph or something similar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonograph_cylinder

That's it. We still have it and about a dozen of the cylinder "records." There were MANY more when he bought it, but over the years, they have degraded and broken.

 

[Domo]

A pound used to be worth it's weight in silver.

Up until recently, the UK had a thrupenny piece and also a ha'penny piece.

 

[bcla]

That's it. We still have it and about a dozen of the cylinder "records." There were MANY more when he bought it, but over the years, they have degraded and broken.

Very likely if they're wax and depending on storage conditions. There were other materials. I read that celluloid was initially more durable, but that over time it would shrink without something like cold storage.

 

[design_mom]

When I was in college there was a student who was on an exchange program from Germany. We were friends. She had a lot of trouble with the coins, too. I'm not sure if this works once you factor in the less common coins, but for penny, nickel, dime and quarter: the smooth-edged ones are worth less than the ridged-edged ones. Within the smooth edged group (penny, nickel) and ridged-edged group (dime, quarter), the smaller the coin, the smaller the value. A dime is worth more than a smooth-edged penny or nickel, but less than the larger, ridged-edge quarter.

She also had a heck of a time with bills and I couldn't figure out why. She finally said "They're all the same color and all these presidents look the same!" She felt kind of silly when we pointed out that the bills have numbers in the corners! She was used to more colorful money where the orange one was worth __ and the blue one was worth __, and you didn't have to look very closely at them.