Coin clipping involved shaving tiny amounts of metal from the edges of coins. The removed slivers were collected, melted down, and reused.
The clipped coins, though slightly lighter, still looked legitimate enough to circulate at full value. One coin might lose only a fraction of a gram—an amount nearly impossible to detect without careful measurement.
But across hundreds or thousands of coins, the losses added up.
A Silent Threat to Economic Stability
Coin clipping was particularly dangerous because it operated quietly. Unlike counterfeiting, which produced obvious fakes, clipped coins blended seamlessly into everyday transactions.
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