A coin is a piece of metal that is used as a medium of exchange.
Coin is a term that comes from the Latin monēta and refers to a piece of gold, silver or other metal that, shaped like a disk and minted with various motifs to prove its value and legitimacy, is used as a means of exchange ( money ).
For example: “This juice is very cheap: you can buy it with just a couple of coins” , “I need coins for the bus” , “The grocer didn't give me change because he said he didn't have any coins” .
Emergence of currency
Coins were created to replace ingots, plates and other items that were used as a means of payment but were inconvenient and difficult to transport. The first official coins were minted in Lydia between 680 and 560 BC. However, there are believed to be much older coins ( 5000 BC , found in China ).
The value that coins have had throughout history is undeniable, as there have been many of them, all or almost all of them with peculiarities that made them different from the rest, not only because of their costs or their shapes, but also because of their names. Thus, for example, we could highlight the so-called philippines , which received their name from King Philip II of Macedonia , or those known as darics , which were minted with that name by the Persian monarch Darius .
It is also important to note that every coin must have the following parts to be called as such: the edge, the obverse or face, the reverse, the legend, the imprint, the type and the mark.
Taking into account all these factors and many others, such as the graph or the fields, is how the different currencies can be differentiated. At the moment, among the most important legal tender currencies are the dollar , the euro , the yen and the pound , among others.
Currency can be used as a synonym for money.
A measure of value
Today, coins serve as a measure of value , an instrument of direct acquisition or a means of storing wealth . Security regulations to prevent counterfeiting have multiplied in all countries of the world.
By extension, any banknote, paper or legal tender currency is known as currency. For the economy , currency is the set of representative signs of the money in circulation in a country: "The government must defend the value of the currency to protect the purchasing power of the population" , "We have to accept that the euro is the most powerful currency in the world" .
The science that studies the history of coins and money in general is called numismatics , as is the collecting of coins and medals.
Expressions with the term currency
We should also point out a series of expressions that make use of the term in question. Thus, for example, we use “currency” to refer to money that is legal tender at that time.
Similarly, there is the term “cash and carry” . This is a combination of words that we use very frequently to refer to the cash we use to make purchases.