Coin Clinic: Who designed the 1792 disme?

Can coins having belonged to Binion be identified?

Many of the more select coins, especially Morgan silver dollars, that Ted Binion put aside were later authenticated and graded by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation®. The coins include an acknowledgment they once belonged to Binion on their NGC® label. 

The United States issued U.S. notes, Treasury Certificates, and the like. Why were Silver Certificates issued?

During the 1890s, the Treasury adopted a policy to use $1 and $2 Silver Certificates that were certificates or receipts in lieu of carrying bulky silver dollars to accommodate the public. Since these are certificates, they represented the silver in the Treasury and were meant to be redeemed.

Why were so many silver dollars melted under the 1918 Pittman Act?

A huge hoard of silver dollars languished in Treasury vaults after World War One ended. The government sold the silver bullion from these coins to Great Britain at a profit. Great Britain, in turn, used the silver to strike coins for British India.

I have a series of 52 Uncirculated 2005 Oregon quarters that I received in bank rolls. The reverse of each appears to be struck through, varying in size from quite large to small. It appears that whatever was caught in the die started large and on some of the coins it split and worked down to small. Would this be a nice find or would it be considered damage?

If this was a single coin I would say the coin would be of modest value. Since your coins show a progression, the coins as a group will have significant value to people who collect error coins. Should you sell them, sell them as a single group. 

I’ve read several countries are making their bank notes of polymer, some form of plastic. What is the difference between polymer and plastic?

Plastics are made of a long chain of polymers. Polymers are composed of smaller and more uniform molecules. In other words, plastics are a type of polymer.

Who designed our 1792 disme?

The name of the engraver was not recorded, but it is known that Mint Director David Rittenhouse requested dies be prepared from designs initiated by Joseph Ceracchi.

Was the term “disme” used to identify coin denominations after 1792?

The names “half dime” and “dime” were used to identify our 5- and 10-cent denominations as soon as the official coinages began in 1794 and 1796, respectively. However, internal US Mint documents continued to use the spelling “disme” until 1837.