United States quarters and dimes feature tiny ridges along their outer edges because historical coins were minted from solid silver and gold, making them prime targets for a highly lucrative scam known as coin clipping.

A closer look

United States quarters and dimes feature tiny ridges along their outer edges because historical coins were minted from solid silver and gold, making them prime targets for a highly lucrative scam known as coin clipping. Enterprising fraudsters would meticulously shave off small slivers from the smooth edges of precious metal coins, hoard the valuable dust to melt down into ingots, and then pass the slightly smaller, mutilated coins back into circulation at full face value. To combat this microscopic theft, the government began adding grooved reeding to the edges so that any tampering would be instantly obvious to merchants. We no longer use precious metals in our pocket change, meaning those iconic ridges exist today purely as a vestigial design choice, forever reminding us of a time when people were desperate enough to literally shave pennies to stick it to the man