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The 1/6000 figure comes from a paper "Probability of a tossed coin falling on its edge" from 1993. I looked for it in the hopes it clarified the type of coin used, but the paper, as far as I could find, is behind a paywall.

Nevermind, found a link that talked about the paper. They used a US 5¢ coin, a nickel which has a flat edge and I think the thickest edge out of all (common?) US coins. At least it has the thickest edge to face ratio in terms of width.




I have actually seen a £1 coin land on its edge, I imagine given that it's a fair bit thicker than any US coin, it's much more likely with a £1 coin.




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