Spelling It Out - Unhelpful American Coin Language

I was helping one of our international students with color printing at the library.  Black and white printing is included in their tuition, but color printing is extra.  When we were done I told her it would be $.30 and she started digging around in her coin purse.  She selected one quarter and one nickle and gave it to me with a hesitant, "This is right, yes?"  I confirmed that it was and she took her prints and went on her way.  Her uncertainty was caused by an oddity in US currency that I'd never noticed until it was pointed out to me.  

US coins don't have any actual numbers on them.  Just words.

There isn't a 25 anywhere on a quarter, say.  There isn't a 1 on a penny.  

A person is expected to understand English well enough to figure it out and/or just memorize it.  Even memorizing it can be tricky, I'm told, because the dime is smaller in size than coins worth less than it and the penny seems important since its a different color, but its actually the lowest valued.  And so on.

Instead of having 25 anywhere on the quarter, the coin reads "Quarter Dollar."  A penny reads "one cent" and a nickle has "five cents" printed on it.  The dime is the worst though, if you ask me.  Instead of the numeral for ten or even "ten cents" it simply reads--get this--"One Dime."  What the heck is that?!  It strikes me as a circular definition and I recall learning that was a no-no back in elementary school  Plus, it is all so very inconsistent.  Very unhelpful.

I suppose the fact that I didn't notice this until I was in my 30s shows that, at least for a literate, English speaking American, this isn't a big deal.  But imagine being a traveler!  Or someone learning English as a second language!

This first came to my attention via Matt.  When he was cashier at the co-op they got a lot of foreign tourists, largely bound for nearby Yellowstone National Park.  He said some of them, especially when the language barrier was particularly high, would just hold out a palmful of coins and have the cashiers pick the right ones themselves.  Prior to this, I had never considered our coins much.

My collection of foreign coins--New Zealand, Malaysia, Sweden, Mexico, China, and Turkey.  All have a numeral on them to indicate value.  Oddly enough, I've only been to one of these countries--Mexico.  I'm sure I brought back Euros and Francs from Europe, but I don't know what's become of them.   I have no idea where several of these came from...international students perhaps.

I now check every foreign coin that crosses my path.  With one exception, they have all--helpfully, I might add--included actual numerals.  The word-based American coins seem to be the exception.  This, of course, make a lot of sense. It seems obvious to me now.  The numeric character--a 5, say--is way more recognizable by a wider range of people...whether they spell/say it "five" or "fünf" or "cinco." 

This single Mexican peso minted in 1978 is the only exception to the rule in my collection of foreign coins.  It does not include a numeral, just "un peso."  In my research online it appears the peso has gone back and forth on this point. Some pesos that predate this one include numerals...then some coins don't...and now they do again.  There are three "modern" Mexican coins in the photo above, all of which include a numeral.

I think that's all pretty darn interesting!