Why Do Coins Have Rigid Edges?
We all love money yet never think to ask about why it looks the way it does. It pays for everything so just shut up and use it, right?
If you have ever wondered why coins have rigid edges, you might want to look back as far as the 16 century. At the time, people would cut off small amounts of precious metal from coins to sell while passing on the damaged coins at full value. To counter this action, a special process called reeding was introduced, consisting of carving a series of grooves on the edges of coins so that you’d know it was tampered with. Reeding remains a long-standing tradition.