Share This Article:

Economic Definition of coin. Defined.

Offline Version: PDF

Term coin Definition: A shiny metal disc, almost always authorized by a national government entity, with a raised impression of famous dead people on one side and a building or birds on the other that is used as money. U.S. coins are issued by the U.S. Treasury Department and come in denominations of pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half-dollars, and dollars. At one time, metal coins were comprised of valuable metal (that is, commodity money) in an amount equivalent to their face value. A dime had 10-cents worth of silver. A nickel had 5-cents worth of nickel. A penney had 1-cents worth of copper. Most modern coins, however, are fiat money, containing less valuable metal alloys. But they work just fine in vending machines.

 

« cognitive dissonance | coincident economic indicator »

Permalink: https://glossary.econguru.com/economic-term/coin

Alphabetical Reference to Over 2,000 Economic Terms