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Centennial Gold and Silver Coins
Aharon's Jewish Books and Judaica
600 South Holly Street Suite 103
Denver, Colorado 80246
Open
Monday - Thursday from 9 am to 6 pm
Friday and Sunday from 9 am to 4 pm
Call anytime - leave a message: 303-835-8892
A coin is a piece of
hard material, usually metal or a metallic material,
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 vast
numbers of bullion coins. In the present day, coins
and banknotes make up the cash forms of all modern
money systems. Coins made for circulation (general
monetized use) are usually used for lower-valued
units, and banknotes for the higher values; also, in
most money systems, the highest value coin made for
circulation is worth less than the lowest-value
note. The face value of circulation coins is usually
higher than the gross value of the metal used in
making them, but this is not generally the case with
historical circulation coins made of precious
metals.
Exceptions to the rule of coin face-value being
higher than content value, also occur for some
"bullion coins" made of silver or gold (and, rarely,
other metals, such as platinum or palladium),
intended for collectors or investors in precious
metals. For examples of modern gold
collector/investor coins, the United States mints
the
American Gold Eagle, Canada mints the
Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, and South Africa mints the
Krugerrand. The American Gold Eagle has a face value
of US$50, and the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coins
also have nominal (purely symbolic) face values
(e.g., C$50 for 1 oz.); but the Krugerrand does not.
Historically, a great number of coinage metals
(including alloys) and other materials have been
used practically, artistically, and experimentally
in the production of coins for circulation,
collection, and metal investment, where bullion
coins often serve as more convenient stores of
assured metal quantity and purity than other
bullion.
Coins have long been linked to the concept of money,
as reflected by the fact that in other languages the
words "coin" and "currency" are synonymous.
Fictional currencies may also bear the name coin (as
such, an item may be said to be worth 123 coin or
123 coins).
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