Using coins in shotgun shells?

Just a total nerd moment:

I used to do Western gun shows when I was younger. We did a show called The Last Day of Billy the Kid and I got to play Billy. It was my favorite show because I basically got to shoot every gun that we had.

Accurate to legend (at least) Bob Olinger, who is generally considered to have been Billy the Kid's last victim, boasted that his shotgun shells were loaded with "A dollar worth of dimes."

This really hit me while watching News of the World last afternoon wherein they actually show characters using coins in shotgun shells.

The interesting thing, to me at least, is that using coins in shotgun shells was something that sounded extra deadly, which is why it entered Western mythology; but, in reality, buckshot was and is much deadlier and cheaper.

If you got hit with a shotgun blast full of dimes, it might be lethal. Most likely, you'd be incapacitated and you'd have a really bad week or three recovering; but, it's usually not gonna kill you.

All that said, that detail in News of the World is still one of my favorite parts of the movie.