single word requests - How to call the distribution of coin values within a currency


There are many special words surrounding coins. Wikipedia lists a view. I'm interested in a name for the distribution of coin values in a currency.


The Euro has 1ct, 2ct, 5ct, 10ct, 20ct, 50ct, 1€, 2€ pieces.


Harry Potter has 1knut, 29knut, 493knut pieces.


And I want a name for that. 1 word is appreciated, if there is none, multi-word terms are ok, as well.


Update: so far, we got(order has no meaning):



  • (set of|circulating|range of|available) (coin) denominations

  • denomination (set|list|mix)

  • circulated denominations

  • (denominations|coin types) in circulation

  • coinage system

  • coin (range|palette|coterie)

  • currency genus[proposed, not seen]


ambiguous (can also mean mass of all coins existing e.g. all 1ct + all 2ct...):



  • coin species

  • (circulating) coinage

  • coins in circulation



Answer



According to the US Mint and related sources on currency systems, there doesn't appear to be a specific term of art for the set of coin values or denominations; this set appears to be referred to in prose in various, similar ways:



Note the words in brackets here only qualify the coins as part of the "normal" set (i.e. not special coins like obsolete denominations, collectors' coins, proof coins, etc), but do not name the set itself. Even the original United States Coinage Act of 1792 refers to the set indirectly:



Be it ... enacted that there shall be .. struck and coined .. coins of gold, silver, and copper, of the following denominations: Eagles ($10), Half Eagles ($5), Quarter Eagles ($2.50), Dollars, Half Dollars, Quarter Dollars, Dismes (now with an extra s!), Half Dismes (nickles), cents, half-cents



However, the Act does contain another word which you might make use of: "Species of coins to be struck: Eagle, Half-Eagles...", and in fact the OED says the word used to mean



A particular kind or sort of coin or money. Obs.



So, you might be able to use "coin species" this way; however, that term suffers from several problems (besides being obsolete). First, coin species were normally distinguished by their composition -- the metal they were struck from -- rather than their denomination, which was a separate concept ("gold specie consisting of 10 dollar, 5 dollar, and 2.5 dollar denominations; silver specie consisting of 1 dollar, 50 cent...."). Second, "specie" (now we use the singular for coin money, and typically apply the plural species in a biological context) is just as ambiguous as "coinage" or "coins in circulation", because one the one hand, it may refer to the types of coins, but it also may refer to the existing mass of coins; it doesn't distinguish between abstract concept of "coins" and the physical objects "coins".¹


So numismatics and currency lingo appears to be a dead end. Taking another tack, then there is a famous computer science problem which studies the properties of systems of coin denominations, the "Change-making problem".


Chasing down a few of the seminal papers on this problem, unfortunately, it turns out denomination selections are still referred to indirectly, using prose (though now of a more mathematical bent), rather than provided with a unique term of art. Most frequently we encounter "sets of coin denominations", and similar phrases.


However, one reference uses the more concise term "coinage system", which I prefer, for its combination of brevity and clarity (it's a self-evident term). The term "coin range", as @JoeBlow suggests, is clear and sharp as well.



But perhaps, if you're willing to take a bit of license, you could the set of all coin species the "currency genus"?



UPDATE: Based on this answer about Imperial units, and the Wikipedia page it links to, you might consider "radix" (meaning the total, ordered set of values which lend denominations to your coins).


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