noun
- coined money; metal coins as distinguished from paper money
Usage: formal; economics
Examples
- The merchant preferred payment in specie rather than promissory notes.
- During the gold rush, specie was more trusted than paper currency.
- The bank’s reserves included both specie and government bonds.
- International trade often required payment in specie.
- The treaty specified that reparations be paid in specie.
- Collectors value old specie for both historical and monetary worth.