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In the U.S. there is the well established formal label "dime" for a 10 cent coin. Now that the currency in Germany is also denoted in cents I am wondering if we had anything similar for this 10 cent coin:

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Is there any widely accepted and understood maybe colloquial term other than Zehncentstück? Are there regional differences either in Germany or in Switzerland, Austria, and other German speaking regions outside of Germany?

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    There is no such word I know of. The Euro coins and bills are in use for ten years now but I've never heard of any coin or bill called with such a term.
    – user754
    Jan 19, 2012 at 8:57
  • de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sechsling
    – starblue
    Jan 20, 2012 at 23:21

5 Answers 5

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Regarding this article there are several words in use to name the 10-Cent coin. The article point out, that the word Groschen is still in use after changing from D-Mark to Euro. Another often used word seems to be Zehner.

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This article based on a survey (its the answer to question 2a of whatever; I tried to find the appropriate question, but failed), but I do not believe the full correctness of this article. The map on top of the page shows me, that West Germany use commonly Zehner and Groschen, but I can't remember when I heard it last (Groschen) and Zehner is in my understanding 10 Euro.

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    I also think that's wrong. I never heard someone calling 10 cents a "Groschen" or "Zehner" and I live and work in different parts of germany. Besides, if someone would ask for a "Zehner", I would guess he means 10 €, not cents.
    – Tim Büthe
    Jan 19, 2012 at 15:17
  • In Swabia there is a clear distinction between "Zehnerle" and "Zehner" - may be that's why people use it there.
    – Takkat
    Jan 19, 2012 at 15:38
  • @TimBüthe: I live in Baden-Württemberg and "Zehner" is quite common here. "Zehnerle", too.
    – Core_F
    Jan 19, 2012 at 15:47
  • This map is absolutely wrong. I have never heard anyone in Austria say anything like what the map says. Groschen was heavily used in Austria. After all it was part of the official currency. We had Schilling and Groschen.
    – Octavian Helm
    Jan 19, 2012 at 21:37
  • I've already heard Groschen for 10cent, and Heiermann for 2€ (previously used for 5DM). Let alone that many people here say "Euronen" rather than "Euro" or "Euros" ;)
    – OregonGhost
    Jan 20, 2012 at 10:50
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Now that the currency in Germany is also denoted in cents ...

Funny enough it's the other way around. Before we had cents in Germany there was the name "Groschen" for the Zehnpfennigstück. This also produced nice words like "Groschengrab" which was used for gambling machines and parking meters. I haven't heard that word for a while.

Since we use cents in Germany I have never heard of a special name for the 10-cent-coin. Looks like neither "Groschen" nor "dime" was adopted for it.

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    Yes, the old Deutsche Mark coins and bills had names. I can remember the term "Heiermann" for the 5 Mark coin.
    – user754
    Jan 19, 2012 at 9:02
  • I didn't know this name, so thanks for telling me @Tichodroma. Always nice to spend some time on Wikipedia: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heiermann
    – John Smithers
    Jan 19, 2012 at 9:23
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    You could use "Groschen" though, it's quite likely to be understood. At least by people aged 25+, I guess. It might even evoke a smile :-)
    – Jan
    Jan 19, 2012 at 9:43
  • @Tichodroma: nice comment, your're right with "Heiermann". There was also "Zwickel" for the 2 Mark coin (no WP entry to link to :-( ) - i'm not sure whethere "Zwickel" is still in use for the 2 Euro coin.
    – tohuwawohu
    Jan 19, 2012 at 11:29
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    @polemon latin denarius grossus (german: dicker Denar [Denar = Roman currency]). Since 13 century used for silver coin with great worth. But then copied to other coins. Since it isn't any offical currency in german empire it was still used for a tenth of 1 D-Mark
    – Em1
    Jan 19, 2012 at 13:07
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In Austria, I have heard dimmiutives for the Cent coins: Einserl, Zweierl, Fünferl, Zehnerl, Zwanzgerl, Fufzgerl. This use is consistent with the pre-Euro usage, where the same dimmiutives would be used for the respective Groschen values (i.e. a 1995 Zehnerl would be 10 Groschen ~ 1.3 Cent).

I do know that the Germans used "Groschen" for the 10 Pfenning coin, but I have not heard this appropriated to the 10 or 5 Cent coin. And even if, Austrians wouldn't use this, having a former currency where the Groschen was a real subdivision.

As for Switzerland: I do suspect that they don't have too much need for a Cent-label, having a different currency anyway.

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The only thing I know of is "Zehner", the same goes for the 20ct ("Zwanziger") and 50ct ("Fünfziger"). The only problem is, that the same works for 10€, 20€ and 50€, so the real meaning comes from the context.

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    maybe in some situations but around here they are usually used for 10€, 20€ and 50€
    – Flo
    Jan 19, 2012 at 13:29
  • As Flo suggested, it can depend on context if "Zehner" means 10¢ or 10€. If you are asked for some small change it would be clear that "Zehner" means 10¢. Also, for 20€, 50€ we say sometimes "Zwanni", "Fuffi".
    – hmundt
    Feb 20, 2012 at 12:11
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As @nd01 already mentioned, we do have a different currency (swiss franc). The corresponding counterpart to the cents in Germany would be Rappen in Switzerland.

For the 10 Rappen coin we use the following Terms:

zehner

zehnerli

zehnräppler

For the other coins worth less than one franc (5,10,20 and 50 Rappen), the terms are analogue to the above mentioned.

The only coin that really has a Name is the 5 Franc coin, which is called

Fünfliber

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