You can live in today’s world without coins. You can pay for goods and services with your credit or debit card, a cheque, or paper money. Before you dismiss coins as uninteresting and no longer needed by today’s society, take a look at a few curious facts about coins.

The Oldest Coin
The oldest coin in existence today was discovered on the coast of Lydia. This coin is patterned only on one side. On the reverse side is a punch mark. The coin maker placed a die with a design on an anvil and placed a blank piece of metal onto the top of the die. A punch was hammered onto the reverse side of the coin. This method of making a coin showed an image on the front side of the coin and a punch mark on the reverse side of the coin. The coin was made from electrum which is a natural alloy of gold and silver. A Lydian coin, showing a lion’s head, can be viewed in the British Museum. This coin is estimated to be 2,700 years old.

The Maple Leaf Coin
The largest coin in existence today, the Maple Leaf coin, was issued by the Royal Canadian Mint in 2007. The 53 centimetre coin has a face value of $1,000,000. Made from 99.999% gold bullion the coin weighs 100 kilograms. On the front side of the coin is the face of Queen Elizabeth II and on the reverse side of the coin is a cluster of maple leaves, the emblem of Canada. This $1,000,000 coin was obviously not made to fit into a pocket or a wallet.

On 25th June, 2010 a Maple Leaf coin was auctioned in Vienna and fetched 3.27 million euros. It was purchased by a Spanish precious metals firm, Oro Direct.

The Beautiful Cleopatra
A tiny silver coin, called a denarius, was issued by the mint of Mark Antony. This coin represented the daily pay of a Roman soldier, and dates from 32BC.

The coin features the head of Cleopatra on one side and the head of Mark Antony on the other side. It is said that Cleopatra was beautiful, however the coin shows her to have a shallow forehead, her nose is long, she has narrow lips and her chin is sharply pointed. Her lover, Mark Antony, has a large hooked nose and his neck is thick.

President Franklyn D Roosevelt removes American Coin from Circulation
The most expensive American coin was issued in 1850 and valued at $20. This coin, a double eagle gold piece, was made from gold mined in the Californian Gold Rush. In 1933 President Franklyn D Roosevelt removed the coin from circulation because the American public was hoarding gold during the Depression. By removing the coin from circulation President Roosevelt forced people to replace the coins with other forms of currency. In 1934 most of the coins were melted down. Today, only a handful of the coins exist. Two of the coins can be viewed at The National Museum of American History.

“Come in Spinner”
Playing the gambling game of two up is one of the oldest military traditions in Australia. This game was regularly played by Australian Diggers during WWI and WWII. Once a year, on Anzac Day, Australians are encouraged to play two up. Two coins are placed, tail side up, on a flat board called a kip. The ring-keeper calls “come in spinner” and the spinner tosses the coins. Bets are placed on whether the two coins will land with the head side or the tail side showing.

Playing this game every Anzac Day reminds us of the fighting spirit of the Australian and New Zealand soldiers.

Next time you purchase a small item by paying with coins instead of paper money remember you are continuing a tradition that dates back 2,700 years. May there always be a place for coins in our modern world.