Dime a Dozen

Had to smile at the automated checkout machine yesterday. I was feeding it coins, and it spat a dime back out. Fed the dime in again, saw it come out again. Picked it up, and you know, it felt just a tiny bit light. Looked at it. And it wasn't the slick, greasy, brassy shine of the clad composition of cupronickel (that's what Wikipedia told me to say) dimes that have been in use since 1965. This dime had the soft, burnished glow of moonlight on the snow. And of course, if you have much experience with precious metals, that look is pretty much a clue. The machine spat this weird, funky, unusual dime out, in effect said "You can't fool me!" and insisted on a real dime, because the dime I was trying to give it was made in 1961. It was made, in other words, out of silver. Silly machine!