coin

A gold half-sovereign carrying a portrait of King Henry VIII of England, and his coat of arms. Henry inherited a wealthy kingdom, and his policies during the first part of his reign, assisted by English statesman Thomas Wolsey, strengthened the country's position in Europe.

A silver crown of 1658, depicting English statesman and general Oliver Cromwell in Roman style, wearing a laurel wreath. A Puritan leader, Cromwell came to power as Lord Protector in 1653. After the restoration of the monarchy, Cromwell was reviled: his bones were hung up at Tyburn, London, and his head was displayed on a pole.

Form of money. The right to make and issue coins is a state monopoly, and the great majority are tokens in that their face value is greater than that of the metal of which they consist.

A milled edge, originally used on gold and silver coins to avoid fraudulent ‘clipping’ of the edges of precious-metal coins, is retained in some present-day token coinage. The invention of coinage is attributed to the Chinese in the 2nd millennium BC, the earliest types being small-scale bronze reproductions of barter objects such as knives and spades. In the Western world, coinage of stamped, guaranteed weight originated with the Lydians of Asia Minor (early 7th century BC) who used electrum, a local natural mixture of gold and silver; the first to issue gold and silver coins was Croesus of Lydia in the 6th century BC.

The study of coins is called numismatics.

COIN

Acronym for counter insurgency, the suppression by a state's armed forces of uprisings against the state. Also called internal security (IS) operations of counter-revolutionary warfare (CRW).