Is it true that the reason coins have notched borders is because people filed them to make money?

Question

Were people really filing down coins to get dust that is worth money? That dust couldn't have been worth much?

Answer 1

Yes it is true. This was done during the time of gold and silver coins. If you add up the filings of hundreds or thousands of coins, you will have plenty to melt down and sell.

Answer 2

At least back in the days of the Roman Republic, which was before the Empire, coins were made with serrated edges due to people clipping silver coins. Remember silver and gold coins could buy much more than the junk coins of today. In the U.S. our early coins had lettered edges much like the new dollar coins, this stopped clipping also. When the closed collar came along so did reeded edges. One can still find early Spanish American coins that have had silver shaved from them. A littler here and a little there added up. Hope this answers your question.

Answer 3

It is true that many people file coins. Some coins have file marks made by the minting facility to adjust the weight of the coin. Sometimes an assayer has to do a purity test on a batch of coins (usually to insure them) and chooses one coin to do a scratch and or file test. This is done to authenticate the amount of precious metal in the coin. These things are still done today. Now as for making money on filings, I suppose it has been done.

Answer 4

I have heard that is true. History channel I think. Metal prices have fluctuated greatly over the years, so sometimes filing off shavings of some metal at some points, over a bunch of times, could be better than working. Buy ya an apple if you're starving at least!

I also heard that when copper prices were up, the material to make one penny was actually worth more than one cent.

Answer 5

Yes, thats correct. Back when coins were gold or silver, people shaved off little pieces of coins and after a while, cashed the shavings in.

Answer 6

wait.... what?