Get ready to have your mind blown with this latest information.
The intricate design of British coins, from their color to their shape, is a marvel in itself. However, have you ever stopped to think about the purpose of the grooved edges on your shifter?
The TikTok sensation revealed the reason behind this feature. User @CoinCollectingWizard, who has 191,000 followers, explained in a viral video that garnered hundreds of likes and plenty of comments.
He said all the coins were made of gold or silver and lacked ridges. The value of each coin was determined by its gold or silver content.
However, according to a TikTok insider, there were those who tried to illegally profit from these precious metals.
“They filed the edges and sold them with gold or silver with gold or silver,” he explained.
This subtle size reduction often went unnoticed, but it reduced the value of the original gold or silver coin.
Authorities introduced milled or grooved edges to combat the problem, making it immediately obvious if a coin had been tampered with.
Although modern coins no longer consist of pure gold or silver, the tradition of milled edges continues.
He elaborated: “This meant then that people could just make the coin smaller, keep the gold that they took out of the coin and still use the coin as normal, so they would put grooves in it. So it would be much harder to do that. Now it’s just tradition.”
There is another reason why coins have ridges, also known as edges. The purpose is to prevent counterfeiting and make it difficult to cut or grind the edges of the coins.
The ridges on the 10p coin also make it easier to distinguish it from the 2p coin, which has a smooth edge. Since this information was shared, one person commented: “Interesting, I didn’t know this.”
Another expressed his gratitude: “Thank you.”
