A small, flat piece of metal used as money, typically round and stamped with official designs.
From Latin 'cuneus' meaning 'wedge.' Ancient coins were made by hammering metal between two wedge-shaped dies to imprint the design. The word literally referred to the wedge-shaped tools that created money, not the money itself! It traveled through Old French 'coigne' before reaching English.
Every time you flip a coin, you're holding something named after the wedge-shaped hammers that ancient mints used to stamp metal. The tools that made money became more famous than the money itself, which is why we don't call them 'wedges' today.
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