Coin Currency
Coin currency, also known as circulating money, is the medium of exchange used by nations for transactions. It is usually made of metal, or a metallic alloy. It may contain a portrait of an individual, other symbols of authority, or the country of origin. The date of minting is often shown on the obverse, with various types of information, including the year, on the reverse.
Traditionally, coins were valued for their precious metal content or other token value, rather than as a representation of the wealth and power of an empire. They were coveted, hoarded, and frequently buried for safekeeping. Consequently, archaeological finds of coin hoards from all ages provide valuable clues about the development of internal economies and international trade. The widespread popularity in ancient times of Athenian silver in the Levant and of Corinthian silver in Magna Graecia (southern Italy) attest to well-established trade links.
Today, the vast majority of currencies are not made of precious metals, but paper notes and electronic cryptocurrencies. Most modern currencies do not possess any intrinsic value, and their values rise or fall based on global supply and demand. However, some cryptocurrencies claim to represent a fixed amount of a physical commodity, such as gold or silver, which gives them stability and a degree of reliability. Such currencies are called “stablecoins.”
In the past, some circulating coins were devalued by shaving or clipping—the public cutting off small amounts of precious metal from their edges to sell it. This process reduced the total weight of a minted coin by about half, leading to debasement. It was a serious problem in Tudor England and was described by the economist Sir Thomas Gresham as “the law of shedding.” To restore their precious metal content, monarchs recalled the coins from circulation, paid only the bullion value for them, and reminted them, a process called recoinage. To prevent this, coins were often given milled or reeded edges to make it easier to detect shaving and clipping.
The United States Mint produces coins of various denominations for general circulation. The lowest-valued coin is the one-cent coin, which is worth just one cent and features a portrait of Abraham Lincoln on its obverse and his memorial on its reverse. A five-cent coin is worth five cents and has a depiction of Thomas Jefferson and Monticello, his plantation in Virginia, on the obverse, and the phrase “E pluribus unum” (Latin for “out of many, one”) on its reverse.
The highest-valued coin is the $100,000 gold certificate, issued in 1934. The gold standard was abolished in 1971, but circulating coins of the same size continued to be produced through the 1960s by some states, localities, and private businesses for tax payments and to render change for small purchases. No official US coin smaller than a dollar has ever been minted, but unofficial “mill” coins (also called tenth-cent coins) were produced as late as the 1980s in diverse materials such as plastic, wood, and tin.