What are coins??
Coins are usually pieces of metal in the shape of discs. They're made by the Government, and traded between people in exchange for goods and services.Coins are usually used to make up small amounts of money. When a person has a lot of money, they'll use bank notes which worth a lot of coins. Every country has different coins, and they usually have pictures that represent their country in some way!

Why do people collect coins?
There are hundreds of coins in the world, all with different values. People who collect coins don't usually plan on using them to buy things like they were designed for, instead trying to get their hands on as many different coins as possible! Some coins are rare and hard to find, so a collector would consider these coins to be more valuable. For example, a coin collector might buy a special 50c coin for $10!

How are coins made?
Coins begin their life in the 'Mint'. No, it's not a lollie, the Mint is a large building where people design coins and use machines to produce coins. They also produce bank notes. It's important to make sure that it doesn't cost the Government more to make the coin than the value it receives, so the Mint uses inexpensive and common metals such as copper and nickle to make coins that aren't worth very much! The Mint takes great care to make their coins difficult to reproduce, so that other people can't just make their own coins and be rich!