What Metals Are Quarters and Dimes Made Of?
What Metals Are Quarters and Dimes Made Of? U.S. quarters and dimes are made of three layers of metal bonded together. The core is copper, and the outer layers are a mixture of copper and nickel. If you look at the edge of a quarter or dime, you can see the layer of copper.
The ratio of metals is 91.67 percent copper and 8.33 percent nickel (before 1965, the quarters and dimes were made out of silver).
The quarter has a edge with 119 ridges. This coin is 24.26 mm in diameter and is 1.75 mm thick. The dime has a edge with 118 ridges. This coin is 17.91 mm in diameter and is 1.35 mm thick – it is the smallest, thinnest and lightest US coin.
In minting quarters and dimes, a metal press cuts round blanks from the coin metal. Next a raised rim is put on the coin blanks to help prevent the design from wearing away in normal use.
The coin blanks are then fed into a coining press that stamps a design on both sides of the coins and squeezes ridges called “reeding” on the rims.