American/British money/language

Jim Flanagan jamesf at alumni.caltech.edu
Wed May 16 03:21:18 UTC 2001


For what it's worth, the American "dime" was originally called 
the "disme," a word coined in the 16th century meaning "one tenth."  
A small number of dismes and half-dismes were minted in 1792, but by 
1794 the name had evolved to the familiar "dime," and no more dismes 
were struck. 

Here are the hard-core numismatic details for those with a stout 
constitution:
http://www.coinsite.com/CoinSite-PF/PParticles/05cflowh.htm

Increasingly off-topic: "dollar" is a corruption of "Thaller" which 
was a coin produced at a private mint at "Joachim thal" (Joe's 
valley), in central Europe starting in about the 16th century. 
Interestingly (?), Australia, Canada, and several other Commonwealth 
countries also adopted the name "dollar" for their currencies.

-Jim Flanagan

Moderation in all things.
              - Aristotle





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