Coins

This passage is about an American coin no longer made called a trime.

Lexile Level: 960L

Categories: History

The smallest coin ever made by the United States Mint was a tiny piece of silver worth 3 cents. Everyone called it a "trime." Trimes were first made in 1851 to make it easy to buy stamps, when they dropped in price from 5 cents to 3 cents. The trime was even smaller than the dime we use today. When the Civil War began in the early 1860s, people began saving all their coins. Often they melted them for the silver or gold. Coins became so hard to find that stores had to make tokens, a sort of "play money" for customers to use. Most trimes disappeared, although the Mint began making a trime out of nickel after the Civil War. The Mint stopped making silver trimes in 1873 and melted the ones that were left, using the silver to make other coins. Nickel trimes continued to be made till 1889. Today, about the only place to find a trime or a nickel 3-cent piece is on eBay!