coin
Sign in to saveA coin is a small object, usually round and flat, 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. The faces of coins or medals are sometimes called the obverse and the reverse, referring to the front and back sides, respectively. The obverse of a coin is commonly called heads, because it often depicts the head of a prominent person, and the reverse is known as tails.
AI overview
A coin is a small, standardized object typically made round and flat, issued by governments and used as money to facilitate trade. Coins matter because they serve as a reliable medium of exchange, with their consistent weight and government backing making them practical for everyday transactions.
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Article
40 sectionsContents
- History
- Tongbei in Bronze Age China (c. 1100 BC)
- China Henan coin factory (c. 640 – 550 BC)
- Iron Age
- Lydian and Ionian electrum coins (c. 600 BC)
- Bullion and unmarked metals (6th century BC)
- Croesus: Pure gold and silver coins (c. 560–546 BC)
- Achaemenid coinage (546–330 BC)
- Coinage of Southern Asia under the Achaemenid Empire
- Greek Archaic coinage (until about 480 BC)
- Antiquity
- Classical Greek antiquity (480 BC~)
- Appearance of dynastic portraiture (5th century BC)
- Indian coins (c. 400 BC – AD 100)
- Chinese round coins (350 BC~)
- Hellenistic period (320 BC – AD 30)
- Roman period (290 BC~)
- Middle Ages
- Modern history
- Value
- Currency
- Collector's items
- Debasement and clipping
- Cutting
- Modern features
- Other uses
- Media of expression
- Cultural references
- Physics and chemistry
- Flipping
- Spinning
- Odor
- Regional examples
- Philippines
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Works cited
- Bibliography
- External links
A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, 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. The faces of coins or medals are sometimes called the obverse and the reverse, referring to the front and back sides, respectively. The obverse of a coin is commonly called heads, because it often depicts the head of a prominent person, and the reverse is known as tails.
The first metal coins – invented in the ancient Greek world and disseminated during the Hellenistic period – were precious metal–based, and were invented in order to simplify and regularize the task of measuring and weighing bullion (bulk metal) carried around for the purpose of transactions. They carried their value within the coins themselves, but the stampings also induced manipulations, such as the clipping of coins to remove some of the precious metal.