7 Facts About Coin Flipping You Probably Didn’t Know

We flip coins to decide between two options, or even to settle arguments. The act of tossing a coin into the air and guessing the outcome is very simple, yet it can be quite influential too.

On this page, we’ve put together some little-known facts about coin flipping that you probably didn’t know. Keep on reading to find out some reasons people flip coins and whether the chances of getting heads or tails is exactly 50/50 or not.

Probability

Since coins have two sides, it’s widely assumed that whenever one is flipped, each side has a 50% chance of being the winner. This makes sense, since there doesn’t seem to be anything that gives one side an advantage over the other.

However, contrary to popular belief each side doesn’t necessarily have an equal chance of being the winning one.

A coin is slightly more likely to land on the side that was face-up when it was flipped. This is what a Persi Diaconis, a Stanford University mathematician and statistician, found out along with some other researchers.

Diaconis also noted that when a coin is spun and is on its edge, the side that’s lighter has a better chance of winning. This is because the heavier side is more likely to succumb to the effects of gravity and be pulled down.

If you flip a coin but don’t catch it, it can land on its edge and roll - should this happen, the lighter side (the ‘tails’ side most of the time) will probably be the winner of the flip.

The Edge

The chances of a flipped coin landing on its edge is estimated to be 1 in 6,000. This is assuming, of course, that the coin isn’t caught once it’s flipped.

At the 2013 NFL game between the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles, a coin flip supposedly resulted in the coin landing on its edge. To get a proper result, the referee simply flipped the coin a second time.

Lottery Winnings

To win a lottery prize, you have to be incredibly lucky. The Big Wednesday lottery game in New Zealand incorporates coin flips to give people the chance to win an even bigger prize.

If you’re lucky enough to match six numbers, you’ll have to guess the outcome of a coin flip. Make a correct guess and you’ll win the top jackpot prize, which starts at a cool NZ$3.5 million. If your guess is wrong, you’ll win a smaller jackpot whose average payout is NZ$87,000 - still a great prize to win!

Heads and Tails

Have you ever wondered why the two sides of a typical coin are referred to as ‘heads’ and ‘tails’? The ‘heads’ side is so-called because it usually features a side-portrait of a famous person or a historical figure. As for the ‘tails’ side, it got its name simply because it’s the other side of a coin - it’s got nothing to do with actual tails or anything like that.

Way back in the ancient Roman times, flipping a coin was known as ‘navia aut caput’ - this translates as ‘ship or head’. Lots of Roman coins would have an image of a ship on one side and the emperor’s head on the other.

Election Ties

In some places, a coin flip is legally permissible as a way of determining the outcome of an election that’s resulted in a tie.

The UK, for example, has several options - in addition to coin flipping - available for candidates who register the exact same number of votes in a local or national election. Tied candidates are allowed to draw lots or pick cards from a standard deck to see who has the card with the highest value.

Reasons to Flip

Many people struggle to make important, potentially life-changing decisions. After wracking their brains, they decide on a coin flip. Some don’t always act on the outcome of the flip, but many do.

So what are some of the major life decisions people leave to a flip of a coin? Some examples include whether or not to quit your job, get a tattoo, go on a spending spree or starting a diet.

Sometimes, a simple flip of a coin can be all the motivation a person needs to do something they’ve been thinking about, but have been putting off.

Hewlett and Packard’s Coin Toss

You may well have used a Hewlett-Packard (HP) product or two in your time. The company has developed printers, scanners, digital cameras, desktop computers and more. It was founded back in 1939 in California by Bill Hewlett and David Packard.

When it came to naming the company, the founders couldn’t decide on whether it would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett. A quick and straightforward coin toss determined that the former would be the company’s name going forward.