Coin edges may be plain (smooth) or patterned, or a combination of both. They can also include lettering. Reeded edges are often referred to as "ridged" or "grooved" (US usage), or "milled" (UK usage).Concise Oxford Dictionary (2006): mill, produce regular ribbed markings on the edge of (a coin) Some coins, such as United States quarters and

dimes DIMES (Distributed Internet Measurements & Simulations) was a subproject of the EVERGROW Integrated Project in the EU Information Society Technologies, Future and Emerging Technologies programme. It studied the structure and topology of the Inter ...

, have reeded edges. Reeding of edges was introduced to prevent

coin clipping Coin debasement is the act of decreasing the amount of precious metal in a coin, while continuing to circulate it at face value. This was frequently done by governments in order to inflate the amount of currency in circulation; typically, some o ...

and

counterfeiting To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...

.About.com: "Reeded Edge Defined - What is a Reeded Edge?"
/ref>Why do some coins have ridges around the edges?
/ref> The main techniques of coin edging are edge mills of various types, which put a pattern on a smooth edge after a coin and

coin mill In numismatics, the term milled coinage (also known as machine-struck coinage) is used to describe coins which are produced by some form of machine, rather than by manually hammering coin blanks between two dies (hammered coinage) or casting coi ...

s with edge ring, which pattern the edge at the time when the coin is being milled.

Coin edge patterns

Examples of patterns used on coin edges include: File:Гладкий гурт.png , File:С вырезом гурт.png , File:Рифлёный гурт.png , File:Прерывисто рубчатый гурт.png , File:С наклонными засечками гурт.png , File:Текстовой гурт.png , File:Сетчатый гурт.png , File:С узором гурт.png , File:С выбоинами гурт.png,

References

{{reflist Numismatics

Coin edge patterns

See also

References