On: Using Euro coins as weights (2004)

[Someone]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coins_of_the_United_States_dol... confirms that, and shows it works for dollar coins, too (I’m using the weights in grains because that makes the comparison easier; a pound is exactly 7,000 grains)

Dime: 35 gr

Quarter: 87.5 gr

Half-dollar: 175 gr

Dollar: 350 gr

[dredmorbius → Someone]

Note that the names for the first three coins are all units of subdivision. "Quarter" and "half" most obviously, dime comes from the Latin decima, meaning "one tenth". The equivalent Roman coin was the denarius.

"Nickel" and "penny" break that pattern, with the first referencing the composition of the coin (originally called a "half-dime"), and penny is a measure of weight, varying by locale. The British penny is 1/240 of a Tower pound (later decimalised to 1/100 in the 1960s), whilst an American pennyweight (used for example in reference to nails) is 1/1000th of a pound.

<https://www.etymonline.com/word/nickel>

<https://www.etymonline.com/word/penny>

[t-3 → Someone]

Nickel is ~5 grams. Dollar bill is ~1 gram.

[JKCalhoun → t-3]

I like how easy it is to remember nickel == 5 g.

[ProllyInfamous → JKCalhoun]

The "ten US nickles is always 50g" mantra has helped me detect several defective scales (whether intentional or not, I want accuracy).