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The coinage metals comprise those metallic chemical elements and alloys which have been used to mint coins. Historically, most coinage metals are from the three nonradioactive members of group 11 of the periodic table: copper, silver and gold. Copper is usually augmented with tin or other metals to form bronze.
The alloying with other metals makes the resulting coins harder, less likely to become deformed and more resistant to wear. Gold coins: Gold coins are typically produced as either 90% gold (e.g. with pre-1933 US coins), or 22 carat (91.66%) gold (e.g. current collectible coins and Krugerrands ), with copper and silver making up the remaining ...
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Striking a coin refers to pressing an image into the blank metal disc, or planchet, and is a term descended from the days when the dies were struck with hammers to deform the metal into the image of the dies. Modern dies made out of hardened steel are capable of producing many hundreds of thousands of coins before they are retired and defaced.
The best known precious metals are the precious coinage metals, which are gold and silver. Although both have industrial uses, they are better known for their uses in art , jewelry , and coinage. Other precious metals include the platinum group metals: ruthenium , rhodium , palladium , osmium , iridium , and platinum , of which platinum is the ...
Under United States law, coins that do not meet the legal tender requirement cannot be marketed as "coins". Instead, they must be advertised as rounds. [3] Bullion coins are typically available in various weights, usually multiples or fractions of 1 troy ounce, but some bullion coins are produced in very limited quantities in kilograms or heavier.
As well as circulating coins, where they are generally restricted to high-denomination coins, bi-metallic coins are often used in commemorative issues, often made of precious metals. For example, the only bi-metallic coin issued by the United States is the $10 Library of Congress commemorative, made of a gold ring around a platinum center.
The LMU effectively adopted bimetallism by allowing unlimited free coinage of gold and silver at the 15.5 to 1 rate used in France, but also began to back away from bimetallism by allowing limited issues of low denomination silver coins struck to a lower standard for government accounts. [19]