What's the difference between a token and a coin?
jmlanzaf
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This came up on another thread, but I'll pose the question here. If you handed me a metal disk, how would I know whether to classify it as a token or a coin?
Bonus Question: Token, coin or medal?
Honest question. I'm interested in all answers.
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Off the top of my head...
token = good for something in trade (a privately issued coin)
coin = issued by government for use as money in trade
medal = commemorative, not used in trade
Denomination except a sovereign for 1.
Don't some tokens have a denomination?
True.
Didn't the liberty nickel originally lack a denomination?
"It" is shorthand for "its type" below.
If it was not exchangeable for goods or services, it's a medal.
If it circulated as legal tender and was issued or commissioned by a sovereign government, it is a coin.
Otherwise, it's probably a token.
From Wikipedia:
A key point of difference between a token coin and a legal tender coin is that the latter is issued by a governmental authority and is freely exchangeable for goods. However, a token coin typically has a much more limited use and is often issued by a private company, group, association or individual.
Note that unless we define coin as legal tender coin, this discussion probably doesn't make sense.
Technically no, it simply omitted the word "CENTS", which was assumed to be obvious until people started gold plating them.
EDIT: Early US coins did lack a denomination.
Yes but they are not issued by a government.
I believe you already have the correct answers above but... A token could be something you do with a pipe and a coin could be a northern acorn.
Not as obvious as originally assumed, it would appear. Anyway, you don't need any sort of denomination at all if you assume enough.
Doesn't that make Brasher doubloons tokens? [Among other colonial and territorial issues. ]
There's going to be some overlap in categories here, I'm thinking.
I am the forum’s token cat 😉
British Conder tokens of the late 18th century typically issued by businesses had denominations as the working man’s wages to be spent in their employer’s shops. They were also used in some cases here to effect commerce when federal coins were unavailable.
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
The first US gold also lacked a denomination.
Join the fight against Minnesota's unjust coin dealer tax law.
Those are considered tokens. That makes sense to me.
Medals are identified in two forms wearable and non-wearable (aka table-top medal).
The US Mint has manufactured both wearable and non-wearable medals.
The US Mint categories for non-wearable medals are "medals of national character" and "special medals for US government agencies".
"Medals of national character" require an enacted US law to authorize the US Mint to manufacture or a commercial mint to manufacture. Example for the US Mint is the Congressional gold medal and its bronze copies. Commercial Mint example is the National Medal of Science (Medallic Art Company, where the design was approved by Executive Order from the POTUS (Eisenhower) and the Medal of Technology and Innovation (Medallic Art Company).
Yep he has a US Mint medal under authority of 31 U.S.C. § 5111(a)(2) ...
"Special medals for US government agencies" requires the Director of the Mint to authorize the manufacture at an US Mint facility.
There exists an enacted US Law that authorizes US government agencies "... to incur necessary expenses for honorary recognition..". This recognition may be in the form of medals (wearable or non-wearable) or other forms of recognition.
Most of the above information is from a literary work that was presented at a ANA WFoM exhibit as titled below.
Silver non-wearable medals are from the Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of the Interior, and Department of the Treasury. Others agencies are not shown.
Then again, the gold distinguished service medal from the Department of Interior is impressive.
Some corporations issued their own coins including the British East India Company.
British East India Company Rupee, Calcutta, 1840
Silver, 30 mm, 11.66 gm
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
Coins in Movies
Coins on Television
Apparently there are a lot of similarities between the two. In fact to the point that unless individually defined they practically are the same. Do I sound like Feld yet
I was trying...
Coin > Put it in a bank
Token > Free gift from the bank.
Metal > You were the 1st millionth customer.
Its still private to that store fwiw
In my mind:
Coins don't have to be issued by a Government and for many years, privately-issued coins were perfectly acceptable in the US, until 1864. Here's some info from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_token
True. And yet Civil War TOKENS issued prior to 1864 are not considered coins nor are Hard Times tokens.
I'm not sure there is a consistent definition other than tradition.
Even government-issued, legal tender copper coins were not considered "coins" because they traded by face value, not intrinsic value. We are bit far from this today but intrinsic value used to be a big deal.
Here's some info on this:
https://coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinIntros/Br-Copper.intro.html#:~:text=As such, these coppers were,of six pence or less.
Well now, this makes everything clear...
It is what it is, except when it's not. The only thing clear (so far) is you cannot spend medals....But you can sell, buy, award, receive or exchange them. 
Cheers, RickO
LOL. I think that's true. The only thing that seems clear is what constitutes a medal. I really don't see a clear distinction between tokens and coins.
Are prison tokens really coins because they constitute commerce within a closed system with an issuing authority? If not, then why not if we are going to consider territorial private issues to be coins or the Brasher doubloon to be a coin?
Can the prison tokens be used at different prisons?
Coins are mass produced in the billions, are tokens?
Not all coins are mass produced in billions. In fact, only in modern times has that been true. And, even now, you have limited edition commemorative coins that sometimes have miniscule mintages (100 or less), that doesn't make them tokens. Although it may put them in the NCLT category, they are still considered coins because they are legal tender.
And some tokens were mass produced. Tokens issued for World's Fairs and the like often had huge mintages. And, of course, there are things like Chuck E. Cheese and other arcade tokens that certainly have mintages in the many millions if not billions. You've also got mass transit tokens (subways, buses) that have high mintages.
Personally, I have always thought that governmental issue was the distinction between commercial tokens and coins, but there are gray areas with things like colonial issues and territorial issues that are at least colloquially referred to as coins even though they are of non-governmental issue.
Don't forget the token classification for government legal-tender issues that aren't supported by intrinsic value.
I think the intrinsic value angle is also what supports calling territorial gold pieces coins.
Except that really makes the definition hard to qualify in a more general sense. You've got all kinds of silver rounds with intrinsic value and even denominations that aren't considered either tokens or coins. Now, you're going to tell me that that is because they don't circulate. Well, neither does NCLT (by definition) yet those are considered coins.
So, is it a mix and match. You must have 2 of the following 3: circulation, government issue, intrinsic value?
Why would an escapee head back to a different prison?
The inability to spend a Fiji coin in New York City doesn't make the Fiji coin not a coin. You won't even be able to exchange a Fiji coin at a NYC bank.
An ASE is legal tender, which is likely why many people consider them coins. The fact that no one actually spends them is somewhat beside the point, IMO.
I don't disagree, except I'm back to a definition that requires 2 of 3 but not all 3. People have argued on this thread and the other, for example, that the fact that something circulates widely made it a coin and not a token. This was their way around the need to have a government issuer or government validation. But you can't require circulation as a lot of NCLT doesn't circulate. Heck, there are countries that issue coins/currency strictly for collectors and export it all.
So, circulation is not necessary to be a coin. Intrinsic value is questionable for more modern issues as well, yet some have argued for it as a reason for territorial gold among other things.
Traditionally, I always considered the distinction to be the issuing authority, but that doesn't appear to be uniformly embraced.
Excellent points. Maybe the problem is simply semantic. The Wikipedia paragraph I posted near the top of the thread made mention of "token coins" and "legal tender coins". It may simply be that you prefer to truncate "token coin" to "token", whilst others don't.
Maybe, but then shouldn't the Brasher doubloon be a "token coin"? Yet everyone is calling it the most important US gold "coin" not token. Apparently you can truncate "token coin" as either "token" or "coin"... my head hurts.
My brain is full. Can I go home now?
This.
Perhaps, although if gold is universally accepted as payment and the government hasn't expressly prohibited ownership or circulation thereof, it could be argued that it effectively is legal tender under the circumstances. We're firmly outside my areas of expertise, so I'm just thinking out loud really.
Great point however, a quick internet search shows that there are plenty of gold tokens as well.
Yup. I'm totally displeased with this. LOL. It seems like there should be a consistent definition.
Well, what was the Brasher used for?
Maybe token vs coin should be considered based on the ability to pay taxes to the government?
While tokens were allowed to circulate in early America the crown wanted their tax payments in Silver.
Civil war tokens and merchant tokens were allowed for local commerce but you could not pay the US government taxes due.
Maybe not the sole difference but added within the above list of three.
My Ebay Store
I'm not sure it was anything but a pattern. Brasher wanted a contract to mint copper coins, but never got one.
A few of them show some signs of circulation, but there are only 7 (of different types) and I don't know that it was actual circulation in commerce. It could have been, anyone with a scale might have accepted it based on gold content. But it was not a backbone of commerce.