# Nine is the American limit

I liked the structure from A.D.'s yet to be answered riddle of similar name and composed something similar.

First's cost is twice itself

Second's of its name

Third's tiniest of all

Fourth's fourth

Fifth's whole

What is sixth?

HINT

Skip the half

• Shouldn't fifth be half? – dennisdeems Jul 9 '15 at 15:02
• @mmking Nine is the American limit. Why does everyone keep stopping at 6? – itriedacrab Jul 9 '15 at 18:45

The nine are

Commonly used forms of currency in the US
Coins: penny (1 cent), nickel (5 cents), dime (10 cents), quarter (25 cents)
Bills: 1 dollar, 5 dollar, 10 dollar, 20 dollar, 100 dollar

First's cost is twice itself

The metal used in a penny costs roughly twice as much as the face value.

Second's of its name

A nickel is made of 25% nickel

Third's tiniest of all

A dime is the smallest coin

Fourth's fourth

The quarter is a fourth of a dollar

Fifth's whole

The one dollar bill is a whole dollar

What is sixth?

The five dollar bill

• You got it! I definitely need to work on my riddle-making... or stick my head in the dirt and hide for the rest of my days here. – itriedacrab Jul 9 '15 at 19:12
• @itriedacrab I disagree - I think the riddle was very good with just one or two giveaways that made it too easy! The word 'cost' was a big one, as well as the 'tiniest of all' phrase. If you replaced those with "First is first twice" and "Third's a baby" or something like that, you'd have a really fun puzzle. :) Keep it up! – Bailey M Jul 9 '15 at 19:35
• @EngineerToast There should only be nine. And if you're going to be picky about it, you should have added the 2 dollar bill too. – mmking Jul 9 '15 at 19:42
• @mmking I'm not sure if you wish to reference the hint, but I think it is referring to skipping the half dollar coin (50 cent coin or half dollar) – Mark N Jul 9 '15 at 19:43
• @MarkN I mean in the title, it said nine is the limit. If it hadn't said that, I would have added the 50c coin, the 1 dollar coin, the 2 dollar bill, and the 50 dollar bill. And the 50 dollar bill isn't exactly commonly used. I've never seen an actual one in my life, despite living in the US. – mmking Jul 9 '15 at 19:48

US coins.

There are 6 kinds

currently in circulation: the 1-cent, 5-cent, 10-cent, 25-cent, 50-cent, and 1-dollar coins.

First's cost is twice itself

A 1-cent coin costs roughly 2 cents to produce (thanks @PlayerOne)

Second's of its name

A 5-cent coin is called a nickel and is made partly of nickel.

Third's tiniest of all

The 10-cent coin is the smallest of all.

Fourth's fourth

The 25-cent coin is called a quarter, and a quarter is a fourth or $\frac{1}{4}$.

Fifth's whole

Given the hint "skip the half", I think we're supposed to forget the 50-cent coin, so this is a whole dollar.

What is sixth?

A 2-dollar coin?

• If I'm right, the riddle is too easy. I've never been to the US, and got this within 3 minutes! – Rand al'Thor Jul 8 '15 at 22:36
• I intended it to be simple, but it was too easy ... and you're too sharp! Thanks for highlighting my puzzle-making ineptitude! – itriedacrab Jul 8 '15 at 22:40
• @itriedacrab Sorry, didn't mean to be rude! Here's some more constructive criticism: I think it was the "American" in the title, along with "cost" in the first line immediately making me think of money, that made it too easy. Do keep on posting riddles :-) – Rand al'Thor Jul 8 '15 at 22:41
• "Fourth's fourth" 25 cents is quarter of a dollar ie a fourth (and Americans usually call it a quarter, the dime is 10c I think), and 1 cent costs ~2 cents to produce blogs.wsj.com/economics/2014/12/15/… – Player One Jul 8 '15 at 23:22
• Thanks PlayerOne; I've incorporated your info. @itriedacrab Is it Canadian as JoeZ says, or US coins? If US, what's the explanation for fifth? – Rand al'Thor Jul 9 '15 at 7:00