Coins in American Currency There are 100 cents in a dollar. Coins come in the following denominations: $.01 or 1 cent (a penny, a cent, one cent), $.05 or 5 cents (a nickel, five cents), $.1 or 10 cents (a dime, ten cents), $.25 or 25 cents (a quarter, two bits, twenty-five cents), and $.50 or 50 cents (a fifty-cent piece). Coins are called "change", "small change", or "silver" though they aren’t made of silver anymore. Coins are generally recognized by their size, but somebody "goofed" on the dime, which is smaller than either a nickel or a penny. All the others are in size order. One more word for you: don’t hold out your hand with either bills or coins and expect someone to take the correct change from you. That cannot be done in any Western country.
