This is a side view of some fairly well-circulated quarters. U.S. dimes, quarters, and half dollars are called clad coins, because layers of different metals have been sandwiched together. When you look at the edge of a modern clad coin, you can see the copper in the middle, with the outer layers of a silver-colored alloy called cupro-nickel on either side. The U.S. began issuing copper/cupro-nickel clad coins in 1968. (Cupro-nickel is just a fancy word meaning the metal is made of copper and nickel mixed together to form an alloy.)
Earlier in this tutorial we saw a plain edge on the U.S. Cent. These coins have reeded edges. The same U.S. coins that are clad are also reeded (the dime, quarter, and half dollar).
