Have you ever held a coin in your hand and wondered what it was made of?

Or did you think that they were all made of iron, and painted different colors?

Coins come in all different shapes, sizes and have all different designs. The major colors that coins use to have were bronze, silver and gold.

Coins were made out of a group of elements known as the Coinage Metals. These traditional coinage metals are Silver (Ag), Gold (Au), Platinum (Pt) and Copper (Cu).

Did you know that the traditional coinage metals are not used anymore. This is because they are so expensive and also because they are very soft.

The metals that are used today to create coins are Copper (Cu), Tin (Sn), Zinc(Zn), Aluminium (Al), Manganese (Mn) and Nickel (Ni).

DID YOU KNOW?

Coinage metals are also known as precious metals because they do not react easily and they do not break down and gain rust.

All the coinage metals are found in the periodic table and they are also known as transition metals.

Platinum

It is the 78th element in the periodic table. It is used in a lot of things today such as in the jewelry we wear. Many of the past coins were also made out of Platinum.

Gold

It is the 79th element found in the periodic table. It is yellow in color and it is also used in many different types of jewelry.