Spare Change We Can Believe In
I have never met a native-born American who realized, all by themselves, that there are no numerals on U.S. coins denoting their value.
If you grow up in the States, the worth of a specific coin is one of those things that seems almost inborn, like knowing which way to turn a faucet handle. But for first-time visitors to the United States, our coins can be an aggravation, a puzzle, a bewilderment. Because, unlike other currencies around the world, there is no way for a foreigner–even one who speaks some English–to guess the worth of our coins.
Can’t judge by size: pennies and nickels are larger than 10-cent pieces. And not by the words printed on them: even our English speaking visitor would be befuddled by the term “One Dime” written on the tiniest coin. Most Americans could not explain where that term came from. “Quarter dollar” is barely more helpful to the visitor.
I once travelled to the U.S. with a Chinese TV crew. We stayed at one of those motels that kept an ice machine and a soft drink machine humming in a small room off the hallway. One night I passed by the little room and discovered my colleague softly cursing while popping pennies and nickels into the Coke machine, futilely attempting to get a soft drink out of it.
That’s when I learned, to my surprise, that American coins don’t have numerals.
Most Americans can tell you that the phrase E Pluribus Unum is inscribed on our coins. I’m hopeful that many people could explain that E Pluribus Unum means “out of many, one”. The phrase is also on the Great Seal of the United States. A Swiss-born American, Pierre Eugene de Simitiere, suggested adding the phrase to the seal when it was deigned during the Revolutionary War. Over time it has come to refer to the melting pot make-up of the United States, with its mix of races, religions and ancestries.
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