Why do dimes and quarters have ridges on their sides, while pennies and nickels do not?

Question

Why do dimes and quarters have ridges on their sides, while pennies and nickels do not?

Answer 1

http://www.bigsiteofamazingfacts.com/why...

^^^That doesn't explain why some don't but it exlpains why dimes and quarters do. I really don't know, and I couldn't find anything else on the internet.

Answer 2

The tradition started years ago when coins were made out of pure silver and gold.

People would take a gold or silver piece and "trim" some of the metal off before spending it.  After time, they found they could spend the money and still accumulate a significant amount of gold and silver "trimmings" to exchange for a profit!!

To stop this practice, the government started making gold and silver coins with "ridges" to discourage this practice.

Since nickels and pennies were made from far less valuable metals, the government never considered the more costly practice of putting ridges on them.

Even though dimes and quarters are made from an alloy now, and NOT from pure silver, the tradition of the "ridges" has continued because that's what the public was used to.

Answer 3

I was aways told that it was in effort to help the blind tell one coin from another, but Gatorman's response makes much more sense, and was quite interesting.