What Is Coin Currency?
Coin currency is a piece of hard material, usually metal in the form of a disc, issued by a government to be used as money in transactions. It forms, along with bank notes, the cash form of all modern money systems. Coins are typically used for lower-valued units of value; higher-valued units are often represented by paper bills. Coins may be made from precious metal, or of a variety of other materials, including some human-made alloys. Coins are most often found in circulating use, but some are also used as collectible items (see Coin collecting and Numismatics). The invention of coins is closely associated with the invention of money itself, which first developed in the Kingdom of Lydia around 643-630 B.C. (see History of money). Initially, the coins were lumps of electrum, a natural silver-and-gold alloy, but they became more sophisticated over time, and were marked to identify the authority that guaranteed their intrinsic or exchange value.
The side of a coin bearing an image of a monarch, other authority (see List of people on coins) or national emblem is called the obverse; the other side, which also sometimes bears different types of information, is called the reverse. The year of minting is generally shown on the obverse or, for some coins, on the reverse. The coining authorities of countries sometimes change the face values of their coins to reflect inflation, but this is almost always done by replacing a fraction of the precious metal content with less expensive base metals, which debases the coin.
Because of their low value, many coins are discarded by consumers as spare change. As a result, they often accumulate in banks and other financial institutions, which are then responsible for distributing them to businesses and consumers. Coins are typically distributed by central banks, though commercial banks distribute some as well. In the United States, coins are circulated through a complex network of banks and other financial institutions that include Federal Reserve Banks, commercial banks, and retail stores. In addition to depositing and lending money, these institutions also receive and take worn coins out of circulation.
In recent years, digital currencies such as bitcoin have become increasingly popular, but their value can fluctuate widely and are not backed by any government. Stablecoins, which are pegged to other fiat currencies or assets such as gold, have gained traction as an alternative to fiat currencies because they offer the potential for stable prices, instantaneous transactions, and global reach. However, they have faced criticism for being vulnerable to price volatility and accusations of being used by terrorists and other entities that seek to evade sanctions.
The size and shape of coins vary across countries and between denominations. For example, US pennies are a flat, circular piece of copper-and-nickel alloy; the highest-value coin in the country is a dollar, which is a rectangular piece of silver-over-copper featuring John F. Kennedy on the front and the Presidential Coat of Arms on the back. Some coins have an odd number of sides, such as the 12-sided British 50 pence coin; this is to ensure that vending machines can recognize them irrespective of their orientation.