I still remember back around 1964 when they started putting copper into quarters, and how odd that looked to me.
Now, they will make quarters like Centavos (equivalent to pennies, IIRC) in the Philippines, which would actually float on water.
That fits.
Back in 1969, even the Baht of Thailand had a thin silver strip through each bank note showing it had actual value.
Cents (pennies) and nickels only had value because the government said they did. Dimes, quarters, halves and dollar coins before 1965 had nearly face value because of their silver content.
When they decided to take the silver out of the dimes and quarters (they left some in in the halves for a few years) the major reason for making the ‘sandwich’ coins was make them compatible with existing vending machines. Other nations like the U.K. and Canada simply switched to a copper-nickel blend.
While a shift to cheaper metal does mark yet another decline, the truth is our small change hasn’t real value for over a half century, or no more real value than our paper money.
A pre-’65 silver dime has $1.82 worth of silver in it. For $1.82 you can buy two Snickers bars. The same dime would have bought two Snickers bars in 1964.