Coin

A coin is a piece of firm material, conventionally metal and usually circular in shape, which is used as a form of money. Traditionally, the value of a coin used to come from the inherent value of the component metal, however in modern times most coins are made of a base metal and their value comes strictly from the numbers printed on them. The origin of currency goes back to ancient Babylonians, who negotiated commercial transactions using gold, and silver as a means of exchange as far back as 2000 BC, however the metals were not cast in a form suitable for easy circulation. Over the centuries, coin designs varied considerably in beauty, and complexity. The first coins had a crude design on one side and nothing more than a simple punch mark on the other. Within a few hundred years, coins of great artistic beauty were being struck in Greece, Rome, and then in Europe. Coins are study object for Numismatics which is a study or collection of coins, tokens, and paper money and sometimes related objects. The history of coins is thousands of years old and it includes elongated coins, encased coins, souvenir medallions, tags, badges, counter stamped coins, wooden nickels, and other similar items. Coin collecting is the hobby of collecting coins. There are almost as many different ways of collecting coins as there are collectors. Many collectors specialize in some area of collecting such as currency, tokens, or military challenge coins. Metal has another value these days: coin-operated vending machines need metal coins so they can tell real coins from counterfeits by the detailed electromagnetic properties of the coin. Coins are also widely used as coat buttons, decorative pieces, pendants and belts.