A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and is used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender.

quantities in order to facilitate trade, and is used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender.

Coins are usually metal or a metallic material and sometimes made of synthetic materials, usually in the shape of a disc, and most often issued by a government. Coins are used as a form of money in transactions of various kinds, from the everyday circulation coins to the storage of large numbers of bullion coins. Presently, coins and banknotes make up currency, the cash forms of all modern money systems. Coins made for paying bills and general monetized use are usually used for lower-valued units, and banknotes for the higher values; also, in many money systems, the highest value coin made for circulation is worth less than the lowest-value note. In the last hundred years, the face value of circulation coins has usually been higher than the gross value of the metal used in making them; exceptions occurring when inflation causes the metal value to surpass the face value, causing the minting authority to change the composition and the old coins to begin to disappear from circulation (see Gresham's Law.) However, this has generally not been the case throughout the rest of history for circulation coins made of precious metals.

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