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- Coin Clipping
Coin Clipping
Coin clipping is a practice of physically shaving down or clipping metal coins as a form of taxation. Coin clipping was practiced by many ancient empires, and it is an early example of currency debasement.
Coin clipping degrades the fungibility of a currency. When some coins are clipped more than others, they necessarily contain different amounts of the underlying metal which gives them value.
Coin clipping was eventually abandoned as a method of tax collection, but the practice of debasing a currency has persisted. Today, governments simply create more paper or digital currency to fund their endeavours and devalue the existing currency held by citizens.
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