為什麼有些硬幣的邊緣是脊狀的？

您可能知道為什麼硬幣上有很多東西：總統的頭像向一位偉大的美國人致敬，老鷹象徵著我們國家的力量，而「我們相信上帝」是不言自明的。然而，您可能沒有意識到的一件事是為什麼有些硬幣的邊緣是脊狀的。

Have you ever wondered why the edges of some coins are ridged? As it turns out, those small slots along the sides of coins once had an incredibly important purpose. A coin expert on TikTok recently explained it.

您有沒有想過為什麼有些硬幣的邊緣是有脊狀的？事實證明，硬幣側面的那些小槽曾經有一個極為重要的用途。近日，TikTok 上的一位幣幣專家對此進行了解釋。

When coins were first made, they were just discs of gold or silver without any ridges. The value of the coins was simply defined by how much gold or silver was in it. However, sneaky, greedy people exploited this to make an illegal profit.

最初製造硬幣時，它們只是金或銀的圓盤，沒有任何脊線。硬幣的價值簡單地由其中含有多少金或銀來定義。然而，狡猾、貪婪的人卻利用這一點來牟取非法利益。

They would shave the edges off the coins and then use the slightly smaller coins for their full value. They'd then compile all the shavings and make a tidy profit.

他們會將硬幣的邊緣削掉，然後使用稍小的硬幣來充分發揮其價值。然後他們將所有的刨花收集起來並賺取可觀的利潤。

"The smaller-sized coin often went unnoticed, but this dishonest practice decreased the value of the original gold or silver coin," the TikToker said.

「較小尺寸的硬幣常常被忽視，但這種不誠實的做法降低了原始金幣或銀幣的價值，」TikToker 說。

To prevent this, the government began milling, or grooving, the edges so a coin could easily be identified if it was trimmed.

為了防止這種情況發生，政府開始對邊緣進行銑削或開槽，以便硬幣在修剪後可以輕鬆識別。

"This means back then people could just make the coin smaller, keep the gold they took off the coin, and still use the coin as usual, so they put grooves on it. So it would be a lot harder to do that."

「這意味著當時人們可以把硬幣做得更小，保留從硬幣上取下的黃金，然後仍然像往常一樣使用硬幣，所以他們在硬幣上刻了凹槽。所以做到這一點會困難得多。

These days, people aren't filing down coins since they are no longer made with pure gold or silver, but the milled edges remain thanks to tradition. They also help prevent counterfeiting.

如今，人們不再歸檔硬幣，因為它們不再是用純金或純銀製成的，但由於傳統，銑削邊緣仍然存在。它們還有助於防止假冒。