A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of
metal or
plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or
legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a
mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by a
government. Coins often have images, numerals, or text on them.
''Obverse'' and its opposite, ''reverse'', refer to the two flat faces of coins and
medals. In this usage, ''obverse'' means the
front
Front may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film
* ''The Front'', 1976 film
Music
* The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and e ...
face of the object and ''reverse'' means the
back face. The obverse of a coin is commonly called ''heads'', because it often depicts the head of a prominent person, and the reverse ''tails''.
Coins are usually made of metal or an
alloy, or sometimes of man-made materials. They are usually
disc shaped. Coins, made of valuable metal, are stored in large quantities as
bullion coins. Other coins are used as
money in everyday transactions, circulating alongside
banknotes. Usually the highest value coin in circulation (excluding bullion coins) is worth less than the lowest-value note. In the last hundred years, the face value of circulation coins has occasionally been lower than the value of the metal they contain, for example due to
inflation. If the difference becomes significant, the issuing authority may decide to withdraw these coins from circulation, possibly issuing new equivalents with a different composition, or the public may decide to melt the coins down or
hoard
A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...
them (see
Gresham's law).
Exceptions to the rule of face value being higher than content value also occur for some bullion coins made of ''copper,
silver, or
gold'' (and rarely other metals, such as
platinum or
palladium), intended for collectors or investors in precious metals. Examples of modern gold collector/investor coins include the
British sovereign
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwi ...
minted by the United Kingdom, the
American Gold Eagle minted by the United States, the
Canadian Gold Maple Leaf minted by Canada, and the
Krugerrand, minted by South Africa. While the Eagle, and
Sovereign coins have nominal (purely symbolic) face values, the
Krugerrand does not.
Historically, a considerable variety of
coinage metals (including alloys) and other materials (e.g.
porcelain) have been used to produce coins for circulation, collection, and metal investment: bullion coins often serve as more convenient stores of assured metal quantity and purity than other bullion.
Ancient History
Bullion and unmarked metals
![Minoan copper ingot from Zakros, Crete](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Minoan_copper_ingot_from_Zakros%2C_Crete.jpg)
Metal
ingots
An ingot is a piece of relatively pure material, usually metal, that is cast into a shape suitable for further processing. In steelmaking, it is the first step among semi-finished casting products. Ingots usually require a second procedure of sha ...
, silver bullion or unmarked bars were probably in use for exchange among many of the civilizations that mastered metallurgy. The weight and purity of bullion would be the key determinant of value. In the
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...
in the early 6th century BC, coinage was yet unknown. The
barter system, as well as silver
bullion
Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from t ...
were used instead for trade.
The practice of using silver bars for currency also seems to have been current in
Central Asia from the 6th century BC.
[Discovery of a hoard of currency with silver bars near Malayer, dated circa 600 BCE, with photographs in ] Coins were an evolution of "currency" systems of the
Late Bronze Age, where standard-sized
ingots, and tokens such as
knife money, were used to store and transfer value. Phoenician metal ingots had to be stamped with the current ruler to guarantee is worth and value, which is probably how stamping busts and designs began.
Tongbei in Bronze Age China (c. 1100 BC)
In the late
Chinese Bronze Age, standardized cast tokens were made, such as those discovered in a tomb near
Anyang
Anyang (; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively.
It had a ...
. These were replicas in bronze of earlier
Chinese currency The term Chinese currency may refer to:
* Renminbi, the currency of the People's Republic of China
*New Taiwan dollar, the currency of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
*Hong Kong dollar, the currency of Hong Kong SAR
*Yuan (currency), the base unit o ...
,
cowrie shells, so they were named
Bronze Shell.
China Henan Coin Factory (c. 640 – 550 BC)
The worlds oldest coin factory is excavated in the ancient city ''Guanzhuang'' in
Henan province in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. The factory produced shovel-shaped bronze coins between 640 B.C. and 550 B.C., which is the oldest securely dated minting site.
Iron Age
Lydian and Ionian electrum coins (c. 600 BC)
![Triti, Phanes, 625-600 BC, Ionia - 301224](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Triti%2C_Phanes%2C_625-600_BC%2C_Ionia_-_301224.jpg)
The earliest coins are mostly associated with
Iron Age Anatolia
The prehistory of Anatolia stretches from the Paleolithic erahttp://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/science-stone-tool-turkey-02370.html through to the appearance of classical civilisation in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. It is generally reg ...
of the late 7th century BC, and especially with the kingdom of
Lydia
Lydia (Lydian language, Lydian: 𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the mod ...
. Early
electrum coins (an alluvial alloy of gold and silver, varying wildly in proportion, and usually about 40–55% gold) were not standardized in weight, and in their earliest stage may have been ritual objects, such as badges or medals, issued by priests. The unpredictability of the composition of naturally occurring electrum implied that it had a variable value, which greatly hampered its development.
Most of the early Lydian coins include no writing ("myth" or "inscription"), only an image of a symbolic animal. Therefore, the dating of these coins relies primarily on archaeological evidence, with the most commonly cited evidence coming from excavations at the
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
The Temple of Artemis or Artemision ( gr, Ἀρτεμίσιον; tr, Artemis Tapınağı), also known as the Temple of Diana, was a Greek temple dedicated to an ancient, local form of the goddess Artemis (identified with Diana, a Roman god ...
, also called the Ephesian Artemision (which would later evolve into one of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World). This was the site of the earliest known deposit of electrum coins.
Anatolian Artemis was the
Πὀτνια Θηρῶν (''Potnia Thêrôn'', "Mistress of Animals"), whose symbol was the
stag
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...
. It took some time before ancient coins were used for commerce and trade. Even the smallest-denomination electrum coins, perhaps worth about a day's subsistence, would have been too valuable for buying a loaf of bread. Maybe the first coins to be used for retailing on a large-scale basis were likely small silver fractions, Hemiobol,
Ancient Greek coinage minted by the
Ionian Greeks
The Ionians (; el, Ἴωνες, ''Íōnes'', singular , ''Íōn'') were one of the four major tribes that the Greeks considered themselves to be divided into during the ancient period; the other three being the Dorians, Aeolians, and Achaea ...
in the late sixth century BC.
In contrast
Herodotus mentioned the innovation made by the Lydians:
And both
Aristotle (fr. 611,37, ed. V. Rose) and
Pollux (Onamastikon IX.83), mention that the first issuer of coinage was
Hermodike/Demodike of Cyme.
Cyme was a city in
Aeolia, nearby Lydia.
Many early Lydian and Greek coins were minted under the authority of private individuals and are thus more akin to tokens or badges than to modern coins, though due to their numbers it is evident that some were official state issues. The earliest inscribed coins are those of
Phanes, dated to 625–600 BC from
Ephesus
Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in t ...
in
Ionia
Ionia () was an ancient region on the western coast of Anatolia, to the south of present-day Izmir. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionian ...
, with the legend ΦΑΕΝΟΣ ΕΜΙ ΣHΜΑ (or similar) (“I am the badge/sign/mark of Phanes/light”) or just bearing the name ΦΑΝΕΟΣ (“of Phanes”).
The first electrum coins issued by a monarch are those minted by king
Alyattes of Lydia (died c. 560 BC), for which reason this king is sometimes mentioned as the originator of coinage.
Croesus: Pure gold and silver coins
The successor of Alyattes, king
Croesus
Croesus ( ; Lydian: ; Phrygian: ; grc, Κροισος, Kroisos; Latin: ; reigned: c. 585 – c. 546 BC) was the king of Lydia, who reigned from 585 BC until his defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 547 or 546 BC.
Croesus was ...
(r. c. 560–546 BC), became associated with great wealth in Greek historiography. He is credited with issuing the ''
Croeseid'', the first true
gold coins with a standardized purity for general circulation.
and the world's first
bimetallic monetary system c. 550 BC.
Coins spread rapidly in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, leading to the development of
Ancient Greek coinage and
Achaemenid coinage, and further to
Illyrian coinage.
Achaemenid coinage (546–330 BC)
When
Cyrus the Great
Cyrus II of Persia (; peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Under his rule, the empire embraced ...
(550–530 BC) came to power, coinage was unfamiliar in his realm. Barter and to some extent silver
bullion
Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from t ...
was used instead for trade.
The practice of using silver bars for currency also seems to have been current in
Central Asia from the 6th century.
[
Cyrus the Great introduced coins to the Persian Empire after 546 BC, following his conquest of ]Lydia
Lydia (Lydian language, Lydian: 𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the mod ...
and the defeat of its king Croesus
Croesus ( ; Lydian: ; Phrygian: ; grc, Κροισος, Kroisos; Latin: ; reigned: c. 585 – c. 546 BC) was the king of Lydia, who reigned from 585 BC until his defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 547 or 546 BC.
Croesus was ...
, who had put in place the first coinage in history. With his conquest of Lydia, Cyrus acquired a region in which coinage was invented, developed through advanced metallurgy, and had already been in circulation for about 50 years, making the Lydian Kingdom one of the leading trade powers of the time. It seems Cyrus initially adopted the Lydian coinage as such, and continued to strike Lydia's lion-and-bull coinage.
Original coins of the Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...
were issued from 520 BC – 450 BC to 330 BC. The Persian Daric
The Persian daric was a gold coin which, along with a similar silver coin, the siglos, represented the bimetallic monetary standard of the Achaemenid Persian Empire.Michael Alram"DARIC" ''Encyclopaedia Iranica'', December 15, 1994, last updated N ...
was the first truly Achaemenid gold coin which, along with a similar silver coin, the Siglos, represented the bimetallic monetary standard of the Achaemenid Persian Empire.[Michael Alram]
"DARIC"
'' Encyclopaedia Iranica'', December 15, 1994, last updated November 17, 2011
=Coinage of Southern Asia under the Achaemenid Empire
=
The Achaemenid Empire already reached the doors of India during the original expansion of Cyrus the Great
Cyrus II of Persia (; peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Under his rule, the empire embraced ...
, and the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley is dated to c. 515 BC under Darius I
Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his ...
. An Achaemenid administration was established in the area. The Kabul hoard, also called the Chaman Hazouri hoard, is a coin hoard discovered in the vicinity of Kabul, Afghanistan, containing numerous Achaemenid coins as well as many Greek coins from the 5th and 4th centuries BC.[: "The most important and informative of these hoards is the Chaman Hazouri hoard from Kabul discovered in 1933, which contained royal Achaemenid sigloi from the western part of the Achaemenid Empire, together with a large number of Greek coins dating from the fifth and early fourth century BCE, including a local imitation of an Athenian tetradrachm, all apparently taken from circulation in the region."] The deposit of the hoard is dated to the Achaemenid period, in approximately 380 BC. The hoard also contained many locally produced silver coins, minted by local authorities under Achaemenid rule. Several of these issues follow the "western designs" of the facing bull heads, a stag, or Persian column capitals on the obverse, and incuse punch on the reverse.
According to numismatist Joe Cribb
Joe Cribb is a numismatist, specialising in Asian coinages, and in particular on coins of the Kushan Empire. His catalogues of Chinese silver currency ingots, and of ritual coins of Southeast Asia were the first detailed works on these subjects i ...
, these finds suggest that the idea of coinage and the use of punch-marked techniques was introduced to India from the Achaemenid Empire during the 4th century BC. More Achaemenid coins were also found in Pushkalavati and in Bhir Mound.
File:Achaemenid Empire coin. Uncertain mint in the Kabul Valley. Circa 500-380 BCE.jpg, alt=Punch-marked coin minted in the Kabul Valley under Achaemenid administration. Circa 500–380 BCE, or c.350 BCE., Punch-marked coin minted in the Kabul Valley under Achaemenid administration, c. 500–380 BC, or c. 350 BC.["Extremely Rare Early Silver from the Kabul Valley", CNG 102, Lot:649](_blank)
CNG Coins[
File:Gandhara bent bar.jpg, ]Gandhara
Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...
n "bent-bar" punch-marked coin minted under Achaemenid administration, of the type found in large quantities in the Chaman Hazouri and the Bhir Mound hoards.
File:Gandhara1.JPG, Early punch-marked coins of Gandhara, Taxila
Taxila or Takshashila (; sa, तक्षशिला; pi, ; , ; , ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area and ...
-Gandhara
Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...
region.
Greek Archaic coinage (until about 480 BC)
According to Aristotle (fr. 611,37, ed. V. Rose) and Pollux (Onamastikon IX.83), the first issuer of Greek coinage was Hermodike of Kyme.
A small percentage of early Lydian/Greek coins have a legend. The most ancient inscribed coin known is from nearby Caria. This coin has a Greek legend reading ''phaenos emi sema'' interpreted variously as "I am the badge of Phanes", or "I am the sign of light". The Phanes coins
The Phanes coins, so called for the name inscribed on them, are early electrum coins from Caria in Asia Minor and are the most ancient inscribed coin series at present known.
Coins
The Phanes coins are a series of electrum coins issued in seven ...
are among the earliest of Greek coins; a hemihekte of the issue was found in the foundation deposit of the temple of Artemis at Ephesos (the oldest deposit of electrum coins discovered). One assumption is that Phanes was a mercenary mentioned by Herodotus, another that this coin is associated with the primeval god Phanes or "Phanes" might have been an epithet of the local goddess identified with Artemis. Barclay V. Head
Barclay Vincent Head (1844–1914) was a British numismatist and keeper of the Department of Coins and Medals at the British Museum. found these suggestions unlikely and thought it more probably "the name of some prominent citizen of Ephesus".
Another candidate for the site of the earliest coins is Aegina, where Chelone ("turtle") coins were first minted c. 700 BC. Coins from Athens and Corinth appeared shortly thereafter, known to exist at least since the late 6th century BC.
File:LYCIA, Phaselis. Circa 550-530-20 BC.jpg, Coin of Phaselis, Lycia, c. 550–530/20 BC.
File:LYCIA, Uncertain king. Circa 520-470-60 BC.jpg, Coin of Lycia, c. 520–470/60 BC.
File:LYCIA, Uncertain. Circa 520-470-60 BC.jpg, alt=Lycia coin. Circa 520-470 BCE. Struck with worn obverse die., Lycia coin, c. 520-470 BC. Struck with worn obverse die.
File:LESBOS, Unattributed Koinon mint. Circa 510-480 BC.jpg, Coin of Lesbos, Ionia
Ionia () was an ancient region on the western coast of Anatolia, to the south of present-day Izmir. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionian ...
, c. 510–80 BC.
Antiquity
Classical Greek antiquity (480 BC~)
The Classical period saw Greek coinage reach a high level of technical and aesthetic quality. Larger cities now produced a range of fine silver and gold coins, most bearing a portrait of their patron god or goddess or a legendary hero on one side, and a symbol of the city on the other. Some coins employed a visual pun: some coins from Rhodes featured a rose, since the Greek word for rose is ''rhodon''. The use of inscriptions on coins also began, usually the name of the issuing city.
The wealthy cities of Sicily produced some especially fine coins. The large silver ''decadrachm'' (10-drachm) coin from Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
is regarded by many collectors as the finest coin produced in the ancient world, perhaps ever. Syracusan issues were rather standard in their imprints, one side bearing the head of the nymph Arethusa and the other usually a victorious quadriga. The tyrants of Syracuse were fabulously rich, and part of their public relations policy was to fund quadrigas for the Olympic chariot race, a very expensive undertaking. As they were often able to finance more than one quadriga at a time, they were frequent victors in this highly prestigious event. Syracuse was one of the epicenters of numismatic art during the classical period. Led by the engravers Kimon and Euainetos, Syracuse produced some of the finest coin designs of antiquity.
Amongst the first centers to produce coins during the Greek colonization of mainland Southern Italy (Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; these re ...
) were Paestum, Crotone
Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages until ...
, Sybaris, Caulonia
Caulonia is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about northeast of Reggio Calabria in the Stilaro Valley. Originally it was known as Castelvetere ...
, Metapontum
Metapontum or Metapontium ( grc, Μεταπόντιον, Metapontion) was an important city of Magna Graecia, situated on the gulf of Tarentum, between the river Bradanus and the Casuentus (modern Basento). It was distant about 20 km from ...
, and Taranto. These ancient cities started producing coins from 550BC to 510BC.
Amisano, in a general publication, including the Etruscan coinage, attributing it the beginning to about 560 BC in Populonia, a chronology that would leave out the contribution of the Greeks of Magna Graecia and attribute to the Etruscans the burden of introducing the coin in Italy. In this work, constant reference is made to classical sources, and credit is given to the origin of the Etruscan Lydia, a source supported by Herodotus, and also to the invention of coin in Lydia.[Giuseppe Amisano, "Cronologia e politica monetaria alla luce dei segni di valore delle monete etrusche e romane", in: ''Panorama numismatico'', 49 (genn. 1992), pp. 15–20]
File:ISLANDS off ATTICA. Aegina. Circa 456-45-431 BC.jpg, Aegina coin type, incuse skew pattern, c. 456/45–431 BC
File:MACEDON, Akanthos. Circa 470-430 BC.jpg, Coin of Akanthos, Macedon, c. 470-430 BC.
File:PAMPHYLIA, Aspendos. Circa 465-430 BC.jpg, Coin of Aspendos, Pamphylia, c. 465–430 BC.
File:KORKYRA, Korkyra. Circa 350-30-290-70 BC.jpg, Coin from Korkyra, c. 350/30–290/70 BC.
File:CYPRUS, Paphos. Onasi(...). Mid 5th century BC.jpg, Coin of Cyprus, c. 450 BC.
Appearance of dynastic portraiture (5th century BC)
Although many of the first coins illustrated the images of various gods, the first portraiture of actual rulers appears with the coinage of Lycia in the 5th century BC. No ruler had dared illustrating his own portrait on coinage until that time. The Achaemenids had been the first to illustrate the person of their king or a hero in a stereotypical manner, showing a bust or the full body but never an actual portrait, on their Sigloi
The Achaemenid Empire issued coins from 520 BCE–450 BCE to 330 BCE. The Persian daric was the first gold coin which, along with a similar silver coin, the siglos (from grc, σίγλος, he, שֶׁקֶל, '' shékel'') represented the first b ...
and Daric
The Persian daric was a gold coin which, along with a similar silver coin, the siglos, represented the bimetallic monetary standard of the Achaemenid Persian Empire.Michael Alram"DARIC" ''Encyclopaedia Iranica'', December 15, 1994, last updated N ...
coinage from c. 500 BC. A slightly earlier candidate for the first portrait-coin is Themistocles the Athenian general, who became a Governor of Magnesia on the Meander
Magnesia or Magnesia on the Maeander ( grc, Μαγνησία ἡ πρὸς Μαιάνδρῳ or ; la, Magnesia ad Maeandrum) was an ancient Greek city in Ionia, considerable in size, at an important location commercially and strategically in th ...
, c. 465–459 BC, for the Achaemenid Empire, although there is some doubt that his coins may have represented Zeus rather than himself. Themistocles may have been in a unique position in which he could transfer the notion of individual portraiture, already current in the Greek world, and at the same time wield the dynastic power of an Achaemenid dynasty who could issue his own coins and illustrate them as he wished. From the time of Alexander the Great, portraiture of the issuing ruler would then become a standard, generalized, feature of coinage.
File:IONIA, Magnesia ad Maeandrum. Themistokles reverse. Circa 465-459 BC.jpg, alt=Coin of Themistocles as Governor of Magnesia. Obv: Barley grain. Rev: Possible portrait of Themistocles. Circa 465–459 BC., Coin of Themistocles as Governor of Magnesia. ''Obv'': Barley grain. ''Rev'': Possible portrait of Themistocles, c. 465–459 BC.
File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Kherei. Circa 440-30-410 BC.jpg, Portrait of Lycian ruler Kherei
Kherei (circa 433-410 BC, or circa 410-390 BC) was dynast of Lycia, ruler of the area of Xanthos, at a time when this part of Anatolia was subject to the Achaemenid Empire, Persian, or Achaemenid, Empire.
Present-day knowledge of Lycia in the pe ...
wearing the Persian cap on the reverse of his coins (ruled 410–390 BC).
File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Erbbina. Circa 430-20-400 BC.jpg, Portrait of Lycian ruler Erbbina
Arbinas, also Erbinas, Erbbina, was a Lycian Dynast who ruled circa 430/20-400 BCE. He is most famous for his tomb, the Nereid Monument, now on display in the British Museum. Coinage seems to indicate that he ruled in the western part of Lycia, ...
wearing the Persian cap on the reverse of his coins (ruled 390–380 BC).
File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Perikles. Circa 380-360 BC.jpg, Portrait of Lycian ruler Perikles
Pericles (; grc-gre, Περικλῆς; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a Greek politician and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Pelop ...
facing (ruled 380-360 BC).
Indian coins (c. 400 BC – AD 100)
The Karshapana is the earliest punch-marked coin
Punch-marked coins, also known as ''Aahat coins'', are a type of early coinage of India, dating to between about the 6th and 2nd centuries BC. It was of irregular shape.
History
The study of the relative chronology of these coins has successful ...
found in India, produced from at least the mid-4th century BC, and possibly as early as 575 BC, influenced by similar coins produced in Gandhara
Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...
under the Achaemenid empire, such as those of the Kabul hoard, or other examples found at Pushkalavati and in Bhir Mound.[372. Lot: 658, Lot of two AR bent bars](_blank)
CNG Coins.
: "Silver bent-bar punch-marked coin of Kabul region under the Achaemenid Empire, c.350 BC: Coins of this type found in quantity in Chaman Hazouri and Bhir Mound hoards." (Commentary by Joe Cribb
Joe Cribb is a numismatist, specialising in Asian coinages, and in particular on coins of the Kushan Empire. His catalogues of Chinese silver currency ingots, and of ritual coins of Southeast Asia were the first detailed works on these subjects i ...
and Osmund Bopearachchi)
Chinese round coins (350 BC~)
In China
IN, In or in may refer to:
Places
* India (country code IN)
* Indiana, United States (postal code IN)
* Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN)
* In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast
Businesses and organizations
* Independ ...
, early round coins appeared in the 4th century BC and were adopted for all China by Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di
Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of "king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Emperor ...
at the end of 3rd century BC. The round coin, the precursor of the familiar cash coin, circulated in both the spade and knife money areas in the Zhou period, from around 350 BC. Apart from two small and presumably late coins from the State of Qin, coins from the spade money area have a round hole and refer to the ''jin'' and ''liang'' units. Those from the knife money area have a square hole and are denominated in ''hua'' (化).
Although for discussion purposes the Zhou coins are divided up into categories of knives, spades, and round coins, it is apparent from archaeological finds that most of the various kinds circulated together. A hoard found in 1981, near Hebi in north Henan province, consisted of: 3,537 Gong spades, 3 Anyi arched foot spades, 8 Liang ''Dang Lie'' spades, 18 Liang square foot spades and 1,180 Yuan round coins, all contained in three clay jars.
Hellenistic period (320 BC – AD 30)
The Hellenistic period was characterized by the spread of Greek culture across a large part of the known world. Greek-speaking kingdoms were established in Egypt and Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, and for a time also in Iran and as far east as what is now Afghanistan and northwestern India. Greek traders spread Greek coins across this vast area, and the new kingdoms soon began to produce their own coins. Because these kingdoms were much larger and wealthier than the Greek city states of the classical period, their coins tended to be more mass-produced, as well as larger, and more frequently in gold. They often lacked the aesthetic delicacy of coins of the earlier period.
Still, some of the Greco-Bactrian coins, and those of their successors in India, the Indo-Greeks, are considered the finest examples of Greek numismatic art with "a nice blend of realism and idealization", including the largest coins to be minted in the Hellenistic world: the largest gold coin was minted by Eucratides (reigned 171–145 BC), the largest silver coin by the Indo-Greek king Amyntas Nikator (reigned c. 95–90 BC). The portraits "show a degree of individuality never matched by the often bland depictions of their royal contemporaries further West" (Roger Ling, "Greece and the Hellenistic World").
File:Seleucus Nicator Ai Khanoum mint.jpg, alt=Seleucus Nicator (312–281 BCE), Ai Khanoum., Seleucus Nicator
Seleucus I Nicator (; ; grc-gre, Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ , ) was a Macedonian Greek general who was an officer and successor ( ''diadochus'') of Alexander the Great. Seleucus was the founder of the eponymous Seleucid Empire. In the po ...
(312–281 BC), Ai Khanoum.
File:Antiochos I Soter Ai Khanoum mint.jpg, Antiochus I (281–261 BC), Ai Khanoum.
File:Coin of Antialkidas.jpg, Bilingual coin of Indo-Greek king Antialcidas (105–95 BC).
File:Coin of the Bactrian King Agathokles.jpg, Bilingual coin of Agathocles of Bactria with Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
deities, c. 180 BC.
Roman period (290 BC~)
Coinage followed Greek colonization and influence first around the Mediterranean and soon after to North Africa (including Egypt), Syria, Persia, and the Balkans. Coins came late to the Roman Republic compared with the rest of the Mediterranean, especially Greece and Asia Minor where coins were invented in the 7th century BC. The currency of central Italy was influenced by its natural resources, with bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
being abundant (the Etruscans were famous metal workers in bronze and iron) and silver ore being scarce. The coinage of the Roman Republic started with a few silver coins apparently devised for trade with Celtic in northern Italy and the Greek colonies in Southern Italy, and heavy cast bronze pieces for use in Central Italy. The first Roman coins, which were crude, heavy cast bronzes, were issued c. 289 BC.
Amisano, in a general publication, including the Etruscan coinage, attributing it the beginning to about 550 BC in Populonia, a chronology that would leave out the contribution of the Greeks of Magna Graecia and attribute to the Etruscans the burden of introducing the coin in Italy. In this work, constant reference is made to classical sources, and credit is given to the origin of the Etruscan Lydia, a source supported by Herodotus, and also to the invention of coin in Lydia.
File:PupienusSest.jpg, Sestertius of Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus
Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus ( 168 238 AD) was Roman emperor with Balbinus for 99 days in 238, during the Year of the Six Emperors. The sources for this period are scant, and thus knowledge of the emperor is limited. In most contemporary te ...
, AD 238
File:Flavian dynasty Aurei.png, Set of three Roman aurei
The ''aureus'' ( ''aurei'', 'golden', used as a noun) was a gold coin of ancient Rome originally valued at 25 pure silver ''denarii'' (sin. denarius). The ''aureus'' was regularly issued from the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 4th cent ...
depicting the rulers of the Flavian dynasty. Top to bottom: Vespasian, Titus and Domitian, AD 69–96
File:MithridatesIParthiaCoinHistoryofIran.jpg, Silver Drachma of Mehrdad ( Mithridates I) of Persian Empire of Parthia, 165 BC
Middle Ages
The first European coin to use Arabic numerals
Arabic numerals are the ten numerical digits: , , , , , , , , and . They are the most commonly used symbols to write Decimal, decimal numbers. They are also used for writing numbers in other systems such as octal, and for writing identifiers ...
to date the year in which the coin was minted was the St. Gall
Gall ( la, Gallus; 550 646) according to hagiographic tradition was a disciple and one of the traditional twelve companions of Columbanus on his mission from Ireland to the continent. Deicolus was the elder brother of Gall.
Biography
The ...
silver ''Plappart'' of 1424.
File:Cunincpert tremissis 612190 reverse.jpg, Lombardic Tremissis depicting Saint Michael, AD 688–700
File:BorandukhtCoinHistoryofIran.jpg, Silver coin of Borandukht
Boran (also spelled Buran, Middle Persian: ; New Persian: پوراندخت, ''Pūrāndokht'') was Sasanian queen (or '' banbishn'') of Iran from 630 to 632, with an interruption of some months. She was the daughter of king (or ''shah'') Kho ...
of Persian Sassanian Empire, AD 629
File:Silver Dirham.png, Silver Dirham of the Umayyad Caliphate, AD 729; minted by using Persian Sassanian framework
File:Al-Mu'tamid-coin.jpg, Abbasid coin, c. 1080s
File:Almoravid dinar 1138 631905.jpg, Almoravid coin, 1138–1139
Modern history
File:Wildermann thaler.jpg, Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Thaler
A thaler (; also taler, from german: Taler) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter of ...
minted in 1629
File:Genbun Inari Koban Kin.jpg, Japanese local currency Genbun
was a after '' Kyōhō'' and before ''Kanpō.'' This period spanned the years from April 1736 through February 1741. The reigning emperor was .
Change of era
* 1736 : To mark the enthronement of Sakuramachi, the era was changed to ''Genbun'' ...
Inari Koban Kin, c. 1736–1741
File:Potosì 8 reales 1768 131206.jpg, 1768 silver Spanish Dollar, or eight reales coin (the “piece of eight” of pirate fame), minted throughout the Spanish Empire
File:TURKEY, SULTAN MAHMUD II 1818 -2 RUMI GOLD b - Flickr - woody1778a.jpg, Ottoman coin, 1818
File:One Rupee East India Company.JPG, One Rupee coin issued by the East India Company, 1835
File:Silver Coin of Jalaluddin.jpg, Silver coin of the Bengal Sultanate ruler Jalaluddin Muhammad
Value
Currency
Most coins presently are made of a base metal, and their value comes from their status as fiat money. This means that the value of the coin is established by law, and thus is determined by the free market only in as much as national currencies are used in domestic trade and also traded internationally on foreign exchange market
The foreign exchange market (Forex, FX, or currency market) is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all aspec ...
s. Thus, these coins are monetary tokens, just as paper currency is: their value is usually not backed by metal, but rather by some form of government guarantee. Thus, there is very little economic difference between notes and coins of equivalent face value.
Coins may be in circulation with face values lower than the value of their component metals, but they are never initially issued with such value, and the shortfall only arises over time due to inflation, as market values for the metal overtake the face value of the coin. Examples are the pre-1965 US dime, quarter, half dollar, and dollar (containing slightly less than a tenth, quarter, half, and full ounce of silver, respectively), US nickel, and pre-1982 US penny. As a result of the increase in the value of copper, the United States greatly reduced the amount of copper in each penny. Since mid-1982, United States pennies are made of 97.5% zinc, with the remaining 2.5% being a coating of copper. Extreme differences between face values and metal values of coins cause coins to be hoarded or removed from circulation by illicit smelters in order to realize the value of their metal content. This is an example of Gresham's law. The United States Mint, in an attempt to avoid this, implemented new interim rules on December 14, 2006, subject to public comment for 30 days, which criminalized the melting and export of pennies and nickels. Violators can be fined up to $10,000 and/or imprisoned for up to five years.
Collector's items
A coin's value as a collector's item or as an investment generally depends on its condition, specific historical significance, rarity, quality, beauty of the design and general popularity with collectors. If a coin is greatly lacking in all of these, it is unlikely to be worth much. The value of bullion coins is also influenced to some extent by those factors, but is largely based on the value of their gold, silver, or platinum content. Sometimes non-monetized bullion coins such as the Canadian Maple Leaf The Canadian Maple Leaf coins are bullion coins of gold, silver, platinum, or palladium, issued by the Royal Canadian Mint:
* Canadian Gold Maple Leaf
The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf (GML) is a gold bullion coin that is issued annually by the Gove ...
and the American Gold Eagle are minted with nominal face values less than the value of the metal in them, but as such coins are never intended for circulation, these face values have no relevance.
Collector catalogs often include information about coins to assists collectors with identifying and grading. Additional resources can be found online for collectors These are collector clubs, collection management tools, marketplaces, trading platforms, and forums,
Media of expression
Coins can be used as creative media of expression – from fine art sculpture to the penny machines that can be found in most amusement parks. In the Code of Federal Regulations
In the law of the United States, the ''Code of Federal Regulations'' (''CFR'') is the codification of the general and permanent regulations promulgated by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government of the United States. ...
(CFR) in the United States there are some regulations specific to nickels and pennies that are informative on this topic. 31 CFR § 82.1 forbids unauthorized persons from exporting, melting, or treating any 5 or 1 cent coins.
This has been a particular problem with nickels and dimes (and with some comparable coins in other currencies) because of their relatively low face value and unstable commodity prices. For a while, the copper in US pennies was worth more than one cent, so people would hoard pennies and then melt them down for their metal value. It cost more than face value to manufacture pennies or nickels, so any widespread loss of the coins in circulation could be expensive for the US Treasury
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and th ...
. This was more of a problem when coins were still made of precious metals like silver and gold, so strict laws against alteration make more sense historically.
31 CFR § 82.2(b) goes on to state that: "The prohibition contained in § 82.1 against the treatment of 5-cent coins and one-cent coins shall not apply to the treatment of these coins for educational, amusement, novelty, jewelry, and similar purposes as long as the volumes treated and the nature of the treatment makes it clear that such treatment is not intended as a means by which to profit solely from the value of the metal content of the coins."
Debasement and clipping
Throughout history, monarchs and governments have often created more coinage than their supply of precious metals would allow if the coins were pure metal. By replacing some fraction of a coin's precious metal content with a base metal (often copper or nickel), the intrinsic value of each individual coin was reduced (thereby "debasing" the money), allowing the coining authority to produce more coins than would otherwise be possible. Debasement occasionally occurs in order to make the coin physically harder and therefore less likely to be worn down as quickly, but the more usual reason is to profit from the difference between face value and metal value. Debasement of money almost always leads to price inflation. Sometimes price controls are at the same time also instituted by the governing authority, but historically these have generally proved unworkable.
The United States is unusual in that it has only slightly modified its coinage system (except for the images and symbols on the coins, which have changed a number of times) to accommodate two centuries of inflation. The one-cent coin has changed little since 1856 (though its composition was changed in 1982 to remove virtually all copper from the coin) and still remains in circulation, despite a greatly reduced purchasing power. On the other end of the spectrum, the largest coin in common circulation is valued at 25 cents, a very low value for the largest denomination coin compared to many other countries. Increases in the prices of copper, nickel, and zinc meant that both the US one- and five-cent coins became worth more for their raw metal content than their face (fiat) value. In particular, copper one-cent pieces (those dated prior to 1982 and some 1982-dated coins) contained about two cents' worth of copper.
Some denominations of circulating coins that were formerly minted in the United States are no longer made. These include coins with a face value of a half cent, two cents, three cents, and twenty cents. (The half dollar and dollar coins are still produced, but mostly for vending machines and collectors.) In the past, the US also coined the following denominations for circulation in gold: One dollar, $2.50, three dollars, five dollars, ten dollars, and twenty dollars. In addition, cents were originally slightly larger than the modern quarter and weighed nearly half an ounce, while five-cent coins (known then as "half dimes") were smaller than a dime and made of a silver alloy. Dollar coins were also much larger, and weighed approximately an ounce. One-dollar gold coins are no longer produced and rarely used. The US also issues bullion and commemorative coins with the following denominations: 50¢, $1, $5, $10, $25, $50, and $100.
Circulating coins commonly suffered from "shaving" or "clipping": the public would cut off small amounts of precious metal from their edges to sell it and then pass on the mutilated coins at full value. Unmilled British sterling silver coins were sometimes reduced to almost half their minted weight. This form of debasement in Tudor England was commented on by Sir Thomas Gresham, whose name was later attached to Gresham's law. The monarch would have to periodically recall circulating coins, paying only the bullion value of the silver, and reminting them. This, also known as recoinage, is a long and difficult process that was done only occasionally. Many coins have milled or reeded edges, originally designed to make it easier to detect clipping.
Other uses
Some convicted criminals from the British Isles who were sentenced to transportation to Australia in the 18th and 19th centuries used coins to leave messages of remembrance to loved ones left behind in Britain. The coins were defaced, smoothed and inscribed, either by stippling or engraving, with sometimes touching words of loss. These coins were called "convict love tokens" or "leaden hearts". Some of these tokens are in the collection of the National Museum of Australia.
Modern features
The side of a coin carrying an image of a monarch, other authority (''see List of people on coins
This is a list of people depicted on circulating coins throughout the world. Note that this list does not include people who have appeared on banknotes, but not coins, and is of actual people and not deities or fictional persons. The customary des ...
''), or a national emblem is called the '' obverse'' (colloquially, ''heads''); the other side, carrying various types of information, is called the ''reverse
Reverse or reversing may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Reverse'' (Eldritch album), 2001
* ''Reverse'' (2009 film), a Polish comedy-drama film
* ''Reverse'' (2019 film), an Iranian crime-drama film
* ''Reverse'' (Morandi album), 2005
* ''Reverse'' ...
'' (colloquially, ''tails''). The year of minting is usually shown on the obverse, although some Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
coins, most Canadian coins, the pre-2008 British 20p coin, the post-1999 American quarter A quarter is one-fourth, , 25% or 0.25.
Quarter or quarters may refer to:
Places
* Quarter (urban subdivision), a section or area, usually of a town
Placenames
* Quarter, South Lanarkshire, a settlement in Scotland
* Le Quartier, a settlement i ...
, and all Japanese coins are exceptions.
The relation of the images on the obverse and reverse of a coin is the coin's orientation. If the image on the obverse of the coin is right side up and turning the coin left or right on its vertical axis reveals that the reverse of the coin is also right side up, then the coin is said to have medallic orientation
Coin orientation (or coin alignment or variations of these) is the relation of the vertical orientation of the images on the obverse and reverse sides of coins to one another. The two basic relations are called ''medallic orientation'' and ''coi ...
—typical of the Euro and pound sterling
Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and t ...
; if, however, turning the coin left or right shows that the reverse image is upside down, then the coin is said to have coin orientation
Coin orientation (or coin alignment or variations of these) is the relation of the vertical orientation of the images on the obverse and reverse sides of coins to one another. The two basic relations are called ''medallic orientation'' and ''coi ...
, characteristic of the United States dollar coin.
Bimetallic coins
Bi-metallic coins are coins consisting of two (''bi-'') metals or alloys, generally arranged with an outer ring around a contrasting center. Common circulating examples include the €1, €2, United Kingdom £1 and £2, Canadian $2, South A ...
are sometimes used for higher values and for commemorative purposes. In the 1990s, France used a tri-metallic coin. Common circulating bimetallic examples include the €1, €2, British £1, £2 and Canadian $2 and several peso coins in Mexico.
The ''exergue'' is the space on a coin beneath the main design, often used to show the coin's date, although it is sometimes left blank or contains a mint mark, privy mark, or some other decorative or informative design feature. Many coins do not have an exergue at all, especially those with few or no legends, such as the Victorian bun penny.
Not all coins are round; they come in a variety of shapes. The Australian 50-cent coin
The twelve-sided Australian fifty-cent coin is the third-highest denomination coin of the Australian dollar and the largest in terms of size in circulation. It is equal in size and shape to the Cook Island $5 coin, and both remain the only ...
, for example, has twelve flat sides. Some coins have wavy edges, e.g. the $2 and 20-cent coins of Hong Kong and the 10-cent coins of Bahamas. Some are square-shaped, such as the 15-cent coin of the Bahamas and the 50-cent coin from Aruba. During the 1970s, Swazi coins were minted in several shapes, including squares, polygons, and wavy edged circles with 8 and 12 waves.
File:Israelwave.jpg, Scalloped coin of Israel
File:Belizeonecentwave.jpg, 1996 one cent coin from Belize
File:Phil2pisodecrev.jpg, Decagonal two Piso Philippine coin 1990
Some other coins, like the British 20 and 50 pence coins and the Canadian Loonie, have an odd number of sides, with the edges rounded off. This way the coin has a constant diameter, recognizable by vending machines whichever direction it is inserted.
A triangular coin with a face value of £5 (produced to commemorate the 2007/2008 Tutankhamun exhibition at The O2 Arena) was commissioned by the Isle of Man: it became legal tender on 6 December 2007. Other triangular coins issued earlier include: Cabinda coin, Bermuda coin, 2 Dollar Cook Islands 1992 triangular coin, Uganda Millennium Coin and Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
Sterling-Silver 10-Zloty Coin.
Some medieval coins, called bracteates, were so thin they were struck on only one side.
Many coins over the years have been manufactured with integrated holes such as Chinese "cash" coins, Japanese coins, Colonial French coins, etc. This may have been done to permit their being strung on cords, to facilitate storage and being carried. Nowadays, holes help to differentiate coins of similar size and metal, such as the Japanese 50 yen and 100 yen coin.
File:Frenchholeobv.jpg, 1917 French coin with integrated hole
File:Chong Ning Tongbao 1.JPG, Chinese cash coin, 1102–1106
File:عملة فلسطينية معدنية.jpg, 1941 Palestine coin
File:50 Yen Rückseite.jpg, Modern-day Japanese 50-yen coin
File:1924 East African 1 cent coin reverse.jpg, 1924 East African coin
The Royal Canadian Mint is now able to produce holographic-effect gold and silver coinage. However, this procedure is not limited to only bullion or commemorative coinage. The 500 yen coin
The is the largest denomination of Japanese yen coin issued for circulation. These coins were first struck in 1982 as the vending machine industry needed a higher valued coin for use in their machines. The denomination had previously been iss ...
from Japan was subject to a massive amount of counterfeit
To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...
ing. The Japanese government in response produced a circulatory coin with a holographic image.
The Royal Canadian Mint has also released several coins that are colored, the first of which was in commemoration of Remembrance Day. The subject was a colored poppy on the reverse of a 25-cent piece minted through a patented process.
An example of non-metallic composite coins (sometimes incorrectly called plastic coins) was introduced into circulation in Transnistria on 22 August 2014. Most of these coins are also non-circular, with different shapes corresponding to different coin values.
For a list of many pure metallic elements and their alloys which have been used in actual circulation coins and for trial experiments, see coinage metals.
Physics and chemistry
Flipping
To flip a coin to see whether it lands ''heads'' or ''tails'' is to use it as a two-sided dice
Dice (singular die or dice) are small, throwable objects with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. They are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, role-playing g ...
in what is known in mathematics as a Bernoulli trial: if the probability of heads (in the parlance of Bernoulli trials, a "success") is exactly 0.5, the coin is fair.
Spinning
Coins can also be spun on a flat surface such as a table. This results in the following phenomenon: as the coin falls over and rolls on its edge, it spins faster and faster (formally, the precession rate of the symmetry axis of the coin, i.e., the axis passing from one face of the coin to the other) before coming to an abrupt stop. This is mathematically modeled as a finite-time singularity – the precession rate is accelerating to infinity, before it suddenly stops, and has been studied using high speed photography
High-speed photography is the science of taking pictures of very fast phenomena. In 1948, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) defined high-speed photography as any set of photographs captured by a camera capable of 69 ...
and devices such as Euler's Disk
Euler's Disk, invented between 1987 and 1990 by Joseph Bendik, is a trademark for a scientific educational toy. It is used to illustrate and study the dynamic system of a spinning and rolling disk on a flat or curved surface. It has been the subje ...
. The slowing down is predominantly caused by rolling friction
Rolling resistance, sometimes called rolling friction or rolling drag, is the force resisting the motion when a body (such as a ball, tire, or wheel) rolls on a surface. It is mainly caused by non-elastic effects; that is, not all the energy nee ...
(air resistance is minor), and the singularity (divergence of the precession rate) can be modeled as a power law
In statistics, a power law is a Function (mathematics), functional relationship between two quantities, where a Relative change and difference, relative change in one quantity results in a proportional relative change in the other quantity, inde ...
with exponent approximately −1/3.
Odor
Iron and copper coins have a characteristic metallic smell that is produced upon contact with oils in the skin. Perspiration is chemically reduced upon contact with these metals, which causes the skin oils to decompose, forming with iron the volatile molecule 1-octen-3-one
Oct-1-en-3-one (CH2=CHC(=O)(CH2)4CH3), also known as 1-octen-3-one, is the odorant that is responsible for the typical "metallic" smell of metals and blood coming into contact with skin. Oct-1-en-3-one has a strong metallic mushroom-like odor with ...
.A 'metallic' smell is just body odour
Regional examples
Philippines
![Piloncitos ang gold rings](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Piloncitos_ang_gold_rings.jpg)
In the Philippines, small, engraved gold coins called Piloncitos were excavated, some as lightweight as 0.09 to 2.65 grams. Piloncitos have been unearthed from
Mandaluyong,
Bataan, the banks of the
Pasig River,
Batangas,
Marinduque
Marinduque (; ), officially the Province of Marinduque, is an island province in the Philippines located in Southwestern Tagalog Region or Mimaropa, formerly designated as Region IV-B. Its capital is the municipality of Boac. Marinduque lies be ...
,
Samar,
Leyte and some areas in
Mindanao. Large quantities were found in
Indonesian archaeological sites, suggesting that they may not have originated in the Philippines, but rather were imported. However, numerous
Spanish accounts state that the gold coins were mined and labored in the Philippines, such as the following from 1586:
See also
*
Bi-metallic coin
*
Coin base weight
A coin base weight (''Münzgrundgewicht'') is a mathematical reference for the minting of coins that was used in the monetary systems of the Holy Roman Empire. In conjunction with the coin standard (''Münzfuß''), the coin base weight indicates h ...
*
Coin collecting
*
Coin counter
A currency-counting machine is a machine that counts money—either stacks of banknotes or loose collections of coins. Counters may be purely mechanical or use electronic components. The machines typically provide a total count of all money, or ...
*
Coin counterfeiting
*
Coin magic
*
Coin sorter
A currency-counting machine is a machine that counts money—either stacks of banknotes or loose collections of coins. Counters may be purely mechanical or use electronic components. The machines typically provide a total count of all money, or ...
*
Coin standard
A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...
*
Currency
*
Hanukkah gelt –
Chocolate coin
Chocolate coins, or chocolate money, are foil-covered chocolates in the shape of coins.
History
As a Christmas tradition, the chocolate coin giving is said to be inspired by the deeds of Saint Nicholas in the fourth century, with chocolate coin ...
*
History of coins
*
Legal tender
*
List of currencies
*
List of circulating currencies
*
List of mints
Mints designed for the manufacturing of coins have been commonplace since coined currency was first development around 600 BC by the Lydian people of modern-day Turkey. The popularity of coins spread across the Mediterranean so that by 6th-centu ...
*
List of most expensive coins
The following list is a chart of the most expensive coins. Most of these are auction prices. Several private sale prices over $2m are not in this list yet.
References
coins.ha.com Retrieved on 2020-06-21.
* Yeoman, R.S. ''A Guide Book of Un ...
*
Mint
*
Money
*
Seigniorage
*
Token coin
*
Ten-cent coin A ten-cent coin or ten-cent piece is a coin minted for various decimal currencies worth 10 cents.
Examples include:
* the United States ten-cent coin, better known as the US dime
* the Canadian ten-cent coin, better known as the Canadian dime
* ...
Notes and references
Works cited
*
Bibliography
*
*
External links
*
{{Authority control
Currency